Cairo governor Atef Abdel Hamid said that 2018 will see publically operated double-decker buses rolling for the first time on the streets of Cairo.
The first batch will comprise 12 buses out of a total of 40 buses that will join the fleet throughout 2018, he added.
The governor said during his meeting with the head of the Cairo Transport Authority Rizk Ali, on Friday, that the bus can accommodate 70 passengers.
Double-decker buses will operate on lines that usually have a high density of passengers in order to reduce density, he added.
Abdel Hamid stressed that the fleet of the Cairo Transport Authority will see a boom next year.
The authority has signed contracts for the supply of 130 new buses that will run on natural gas at a cost of LE500 million in addition to 150 new minibuses.
The Cairo Transport Authority has also made contracts for spare parts at a cost of LE120 million, according to Abdel Hamid.
He went on to say that Cairo local authorities plan to increase the fleet of public transport, which currently stands at about 3,000 buses, and to raise its efficiency in order to encourage citizens of the capital and its visitors to use public transport instead of their private cars which will contribute to easing the traffic pressure on the streets of Cairo.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
