A study recently released by the World Bank reveals that Cairo’s infamous traffic costs Egypt EGP 47 billion (USD 6.5 billion) annually and is expected to reach EGP 105 billion (USD 14.6 billion) by 2030. The study takes place in the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area (GCMA), which is home to 19.6 million people making it the largest share of population, economy, industry and human resources in Egypt. According to the study, almost four percent of Egypt’s GDP is lost due to traffic congestion which takes into account the cost of time wasted (50 percent), delay expenses (31 percent), and health costs (19 percent). The percentage of Egypt’s GDP loss due to Cairo’s traffic is relatively high compared to that of New York, which makes up 0.7 percent of the US’ GDP, and Jakarta, which represents 0.6 percent loss of Indonesia’s GDP. The country’s crippling traffic problem is not only a result of poor urban and traffic planning, but also due to a lack of order in the country. The study concluded that poor traffic management was the main cause of congestion. The study mentions “limited parking capacity, few traffic…
