Cairo has the world’s fastest growing population, one of its highest car densities and is home to a notoriously inconvenient public transportation system. Poor urban and traffic management, low car taxes and inadequate bus and metro capacity are all to blame for the lengthy commutes and ever-rising fares that Egyptian commuters are forced to endure. However, despite strong economic and social consequences, efforts to address the country’s public transportation problem have not kept pace with the demands of the city. To address this gap, Mostafa Kandil, a former Careem market launcher, founded SWVL, an Egyptian app-based startup through which users can book fixed-route bus trips at prices 60-80 percent lower than competing ride-hailing services and without surge or peak pricing. Just a couple of days after its launch, SWVL was trending on the app store and was harnessing multiple downloads per minute confirming the need for an alternative that is more economic than on-demand ride-hailing yet more reliable and convenient than public transportation. The team’s vision is to re-connect Egypt’s neighbourhoods with a model that guarantees a win for everyone. “Commuters are at the heart of every decision we make….
