Commuters are not pleased with hike in metro fares CAIRO: Friday, July 21 was a shock for anybody in the country who drives because of the overnight raise in the gasoline prices. But this shock also extended to ordinary people who use the metro in their daily trips. The increased prices of the metro tickets have brought them from 75 piasters to LE 1. The Daily Star Egypt decided to go to the metro to learn about people s reaction regarding the price hike. Actually it will not be a problem for me, it is only 25 piasters. But I think it will be a problem for those who take the metro for regular trips. There are some people who take the metro seven or eight times a day, and I believe that nobody can tolerate another two pounds to [add to] their daily budget. Marwa Mahmoud, accountant I will tell you what an extra 25 piasters means to me . an extra LE 2.5 a day. My family is made up of my wife, three kids and myself. We all take the metro twice a day either for our work, like my wife and I, or school for the children. This means an another LE 75 a month. Morsi, civil servant President Mubarak said taking care of low-income people is his first priority. Maybe he was still referring to people from the business world and elite society. Nobody seems to care for Egyptian citizens anymore. They care only for those who have money to pay for that care. The only thing that has been decreased is the car duty. I don t want a car. I want a cheaper means of transportation. Saeed El-Nabawy, office assistant I rarely use the metro but I know that the raise in price will be a good excuse for other means of transportation to raise their fares. Most of the public transportation in the streets now are private, either microbuses or the new minibuses. Ahmad Abdul Fattah, student A raise is a raise. It is small, I have to admit, but we should object to it. I remember a quote from the movie Al Madeena [directed by] Yousri Nasrallah that ran, Paris is just like Cairo, but in Paris you can object and fight for your rights . Whether it's small or big, we should say that we don t want it and that we are angry.Doaa Ahmed, teacher What is important is keeping the ticket at LE 1 for a while. I used to pay 50 piasters for a short trip only two years ago. There is a silly joke that says they raised it because they didn't have enough quarters to give people change when they paid for their tickets. Gamal Moustafa, student Isn t it a silly talk? A reporter comes to the metro to talk about a 25 piastres raise in a ticket while Lebanon is under attack.Mahmoud El-Sabagh, civil servant. I read that the metro carries 700 million people a year. Calculate it with me. It is not a quarter. It is a quarter multiplied by 700 million. It is almost an extra 200 million (pounds) a year. They don t care for people they care for these extra 200 million pounds a year. Wagdy Sadek, barber
