Cairo is Getting Its Own Bike-Sharing System

Biking in Cairo is steadily becoming More Of A Thing. People are getting together to organise cycling tours in and out of the city, while its infrastructure slowly catches up to the notion that bikers are to be accomodated, with the occasional, easily overlooked u-rack popping up here and there in places like Zamalek and Downtown Cairo.

But something is about to happen to make biking more accessible and convenient than ever before: 'Cairo Bike', the capital's own bike-sharing service. That's right, soon you will be able to grab a bike off the rack and ride it around Cairo for as long as you please, and then drop it off at another station for someone else to use.

In cooperation with UN-Habitat and German NGO Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 'Cairo Bike' has been in the works since 2016, in which the initiative worked together with Switzerland's Drosos Foundation to conduct a series of studies to determine how best to implement the project.

The first phase of the bike-sharing service will see 45 stations with 500 bicycles set up in Downtown Cairo, Zamalek and Garden City, with a main station in Tahrir Square. Users will be able to subscribe to different packages on a dedicated mobile app for 'Cairo Bike'.

'Cairo Bike' will have an experimental run around May 2022, followed by its official launch. A national cycling strategy is also being prepared in cooperation with the Urban Communities Authority, which will encourage biking as a healthier and more sustainable form of transportation ahead of the COP 27 Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh.