Feature: Passenger microbuses in Egypt part of solution, part of problem

Egypt's iconic Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo looks as crowded as ever, with dozens of passenger microbuses moving swiftly and randomly all over the place and crowds of people getting in and out nonstop.

Passenger microbuses are everywhere in the most populous Arab country, being the most common means of transport for most Egyptians with low income, which represents part of the solution for the public transport that the government might not be able to cover alone all over the country.

"Microbuses of course solve a big part of the transport problem. We cannot do without microbuses, especially in the remote areas where there is lack of official public means of transport," Yasser Moheb, a 31-year-old employee at a telecommunication company, told Xinhua at a bus and microbus station in Tahrir.

Like many Egyptians, Moheb still complains of the negative aspects of microbuses in Egypt, such as the recklessness and ill manners of microbus drivers that in a lot of cases lead to traffic congestions and accidents.

"As a passenger, when I ask the microbus driver to get off, he pulls over in the middle of the streets and lets me out, subjecting me to be hit from behind by another car," Moheb explained, adding that he and his wife were about to be hit by a fast car in a similar situation.

Nicely dressed in formal attire, Helmy, a young man working for the nearby Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that people use microbuses to save time because the public buses are either broken or scarce and full in the prime time.

"Although the manners of drivers are too low, traffic jam is not only their fault. It is a matter of general behavior," the man said.

At Tahrir's Abdel-Moneim Reyad station, which is too noisy to hear the voice of the person next to you, Hossam, a microbus driver in his late 40s, opened the sliding door of his microbus and kept shouting "Shubra!" "Shubra!" to attract waiting passengers who want to go to Cairo's Shubra neighborhood.

"We also have our own complaints against passengers, for many of them are not clean or civilized and some eat, drink and throw garbage inside the vehicle," the driver told Xinhua, boasting that "microbuses cover all the country and resolve a real crisis."

The affordable fares of microbuses, the congestion in most streets and the crowdedness of public means of transport are basic reasons why most Egyptians have to resort to microbuses run their errands.

"I left my car and came to work in a microbus and will take one back home now to avoid the pressure and stress of driving in such traffic congestion," said Wafaa Abdel-Azim, a camerawoman director at the state TV in Tahrir.

"I don't like it but sometimes I don't like driving in Cairo streets too," the lady added, arguing that not all microbus drivers are reckless and ill-mannered.

At chaotic 20 Street connecting Giza's Faisal and Boulak el-Dakrour neighborhoods, Ibrahim, a 38-year-old microbus driver, was quarrelling with one of the female passengers about the fare, which is one Egyptian pound for each passenger.

"You know, a group microbus drivers can spend 300 pounds each (about 38 U.S. dollars) at a night out together and the next morning fighting with each other over one pound," the driver told Xinhua reporter during a ride.

Corollus, another driver in his late 20s, said that most of the drivers he knows are illiterate and drug addicts, "so it is normal for them to be driving unconsciously and this is reflected on their manners and how they treat the passengers."

The man, who said he was highly educated, insisted that not all microbus drivers are the same. "Although microbuses cause traffic jam and some illegally drive in the opposite direction, they are still indispensable to most people."

After a recent survey that included more than 4,650 Egyptian villages, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said that villagers' dependence on microbuses in their daily lives has reached 68.6 percent.

Official reports say that road accidents in Egypt claim over 13,000 lives every year in the most populous Arab state.

Although heavy trucks are responsible for almost half of them, microbuses come next due to the violations of their drivers and their negligence of traffic laws.

"Microbuses create random stops at unspecified places and a microbus driver suddenly stops once a potential passenger waves to him, causing traffic jam and sometimes accidents," traffic police officer Khaled Tawfik told Xinhua at one of Cairo streets.

He added that most of the headache of his work comes from microbuses, noting some drivers do not stick to their destinations to make more money.

"There are still some microbus drivers with professional driving licenses who respect the law, abide by their lines, avoid violations and never stop at the wrong places," the officer said. Endit