Introduction
Traffic jams in Cairo is one of the most serious problems being experienced in the metropolitan area, and thus adversely affecting the cost of operating vehicles, personal travel-time, air quality, business operations and environment, as well as the public health.
Causes
There are several causes of congestion in the city of Cairo. First, the subsidies on fuel make diesel and gasoline to be inexpensive and as a result encouraging many private cars to be used on the road even though more investment is channeled on highways. Secondly, the cars are wrongly parked or circulating on the streets, and thus blocking the entire traffic because there are few or no parking facilities. Thirdly, there are limited traffic lights as well as intersections, while the U-turns are managed badly hence slowing down traffic. In addition, bad behavior of the drivers and poor enforcement of laws often lead to overall disregard of the traffic rules (World Bank, n. d.).
Immediate Effects
The immediate effects of traffic congestion experienced in Cairo include accidents, wasted fuel because of moving slowly, travel delays due to vehicle breakdown, security checks or accidents, health implications (like headache and allergies among others) as a result of poor quality of air and pollution (World Bank, n. d.).
Examples
In Cairo, an individual is expected to experience traffic delays frequently due to road accidents, vehicle breakdowns and security checks, and thus doubling up normal time to travel. Last, but not least, in Cairo, the average speeds observed on the major streets are half (between 15 and 40 km/h) the normal speeds expected (between 60 and 80km/h), while speeds on some roads in central metropolitan areas are worse, to the extent that, sometimes going on foot over short distances becomes faster (World Bank, n. d.).
References
World Bank (n.d.). Traffic Congestion in Cairo an Overview of the Causes as well as Possible Solutions. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Cairo-Traffic-Congestion-Study-Overview-Final.pdf
