Abstract

The Cairo Transport Authority (CTA), an economic agency affiliated to Cairo Governorate, is responsible for operating the publicly owned buses, in addition to its role as the market regulator of transit bus. The bus service provided by the CTA covers Greater Cairo region, an extensive geographical area including three Governorates; Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. Given the wide spread of poverty in Greater Cairo, the necessity to commute and the positive externalities associated with people’s mobility, the Government of Egypt controls the bus fares to make public bus ridership affordable to a broad range of clientele. Accordingly, it supports the CTA through a generous subsidy package that kept growing over the years. Even though, the CTA suffers from the inherited problems of the bureaucracy such as the overstaffing and the chronic budget deficits. Such being the case, it was essential to assess how the government intervention through service provision and regulation affects the quality of bus service. Since the available data is not sufficient to conduct quantitative analysis which is more frequently used in transport economics, a qualitative approach was pursued to investigate whether the CTA is capable of providing a convenient bus service. Based on the findings of a focus group discussion and in depth interviews with commuters, the term convenience encompasses travel time, service reliability, accessibility and comfort. The findings suggested that the travel time is high, the service is neither reliable nor comfortable and also there are some problems regarding operating times and facilities for people with disabilities.

Department

Public Policy & Administration Department

Degree Name

MA in Public Policy

Graduation Date

6-1-2015

Submission Date

May 2015

First Advisor

Ali, Hamid

Committee Member 1

Bhuiyan, Shahjahan

Committee Member 2

Abdel Halim, Khaled

Extent

90 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Library of Congress Subject Heading 1

Urban transportation -- Egypt -- Cairo.

Library of Congress Subject Heading 2

Transportation -- Egypt -- Cairo.

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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