Cairo Metro plans to launch travel information and booking app
The Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation announced the launch of a new mobile phone application, Cairo Metro ECM, available in Arabic and English – releasing on Android phones on January 1, 2020, and for iOS starting January 15.
The application will provide public services such as communication with the metro management through Facebook and WhatsApp, a media channel for the metro company on YouTube, information about insurance coverage from the metro company for passengers, the “My Trip” service connected with Google Maps that details the itinerary of the trip and its duration, a map of the three metro lines to help passengers determine the trip’s route, connecting with Google Maps to determine the nearest station, and informing the passenger of violations and fines.
More features include safety instructions for passengers, information regarding development projects, tenders and special auctions carried out by the metro company, and empty stores and commercial spaces up for rent.
The app even features information on services for people with special needs, including wheelchairs, electric lifts, seats allocated to them, and sound and light alarms for visual or acoustic assistance.
It also provides information regarding the extraction of smart cards and subscription prices in preparation for the implementation of an e-payment service.
Passengers can submit complaints, suggestions and inquiries to the metro company through the app.
The new booking system will depend on credit cards to cross the electronic portals at subway stations instead of paper tickets. The electronic portals will deduct the trip cost directly from the credit card without having to have a ticket.
The entry machine will set aside the maximum value for the ticket. The exit machine will calculate the actual trip value and deduct its value from the credit card. The idea of the initiative depends on installing a “reader” on the electronic portals, to read the credit card used by the passenger and deduct the value of the trip.
Accepting all types of bank credit cards, the new system will be adopted alongside the paper tickets and smart cards, with a plan set to gradually replace the cashiers. The new system will become the only system to collect the cost of the trips beside the smart cards.
Minister of Transport Kamel el-Wazir instructed to initiate public offering procedures to choose a company from various international companies to implement the project, and supply the required software and reader devices.
The idea of the project depends on collecting the value of the ticket from the passengers’ credit cards directly, then transferring the value to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to be transferred then to the Egypt Metro Company account.
