Cairo traffic costs Egypt LE47 bn a year: World Bank

Cairo's notorious traffic costs Egypt LE47 billion ($6.5 billion) every year, or 2.5 percent of its current GDP, according to a recently released World Bank study.
The study covers the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area (GCMA), home to 19.6 million inhabitants, which includes parts of Giza and Qalioubiya, as well as the new cities of New Cairo, 6 October, 15 May, 10 Ramadan, El-Obour, and Badr city.

The cost of Cairo traffic is expected to more than double to LE105 billion ($14.6 billion) by 2030, and includes the value of wasted time (50 percent), delay costs (31 percent) and health costs (19 percent).

The relative cost of Cairo traffic to Egypt’s GDP is high compared to the cost of New York traffic, which represents a negligible 0.07 percent of the United States’ GDP, and Jakarta, where traffic causes the loss of 0.6 percent of Indonesia’s GDP.

“Poor traffic management” is the primary cause of congestion according to the study, which cites “limited parking capacity, few traffic signals, random stops by cars and minivans, no proper pedestrian crossings and U-turns.”

The prevalence of passenger cars -- 55 percent of Cairo vehicles according to the survey -- is also to blame for the traffic. The report cites the relative ease of owning and operating a private car in the city.