Feature: Nile Taxi, new tool to ease Cairo's traffic jam

The commuters in Cairo can finally escape the city's crazy traffic jam after a private company launched a maritime transportation service earlier this month on the world's longest river, the Nile.

"The project is mainly to reduce the Cairo's traffic jams," said George Magdy, operation manager of the Nile Taxi Company, adding the service is an alternative towards green transportation in Cairo, the home to some 20 million people, two million cars and around 246,000 miles of roads.

Starting with six taxi boats, the Nile Taxi offers scheduled trips from Maadi district, south of Cairo, to Zamalek neighborhood, north of the city. The 15-passenger boats bypass 20 stops along the river.

The company provides three kinds of services as scheduled trips, on-call services and weekly tourist trips.

The services offer choices for passengers to wait until the boat is fully loaded, just like the public bus service, reserve a taxi at any time with higher rates, or tour alongside the Nile to enjoy the scenery.

The scheduled service is the most important, and the company set up two-way three different morning trips and two evening trips.

"The timetable was pinned down as we mainly target employees and university students," Magdy explained.

Also, Magdy said the boats are internationally certified and the staffs are experienced and well trained, and there is a rescue boat for every five boats in the fleet.

He said the trips cost between 15 to 35 Egyptian pounds (1.92 to 4.47 U.S. dollars), which is "almost similar to the costs of land taxis."

"The number of our customers is growing rapidly not only because of the reasonable costs, but also because the Nile Taxi saves time... a one-hour ride in a car, only takes 20 minutes by our boats," he said.

The country has been trying a lot to alleviate the notorious traffic jams in the capital, such as building a large network of subway trains, bridges, ring roads and providing public bus services.

However, traffic overcrowding remains one of the thorniest problems.

According to a World Bank Group report, over 8 billion U.S. dollars are wasted every year on heavy traffic in Egypt, which is four percent of the country's total GDP.

The report said that the congestion results in increasing fuel consumption, wear and tear of vehicles, harmful emissions, transport cost, which make Cairo a less attractive location for business and industry.

But the company believes it can play an important role in solving the city's traffic problem.

"We plan to expand our services with more boats in larger areas," Magdy said. "We will increase 15 boats this year, each to carry up to 40 passengers."

The company will deploy larger boats, each for at most 250 passengers, and travel to other governorates besides Cairo, he revealed.

After operating for nearly one month, the Nile Taxi is gaining popularity and trust among Egyptian daily commuters.

Mohammed Sami, a 29-year-old accountant from Maadi district said he is very satisfied with the service after using it for two weeks which he believes is "quick and safe".

"In a land taxi, I cannot expect my arrival time, but with the Nile Taxi I know that it takes me less than half an hour," he said, stepping onboard the yellow boat. Endit