Sekketak Khadra: A New Initiative That Will Solve All Your Cycling Problems in The Big C!
By Febronia Hanna
Still after all the government’s efforts to normalize cycling; the sight of a guy or a girl on a bicycle turns some heads and drops some mouths. However, that isn’t the main reason behind the lack of cyclers in the Egyptian capital is that there are no cycling lanes and they have to risk their lives cycling alongside the speeding cars.
In fact, the huge attention directed towards the subject isn’t solely for exercising purposes. This also serves the governments’ and youths’ aching pockets. President Abdel-Fattah ElSisi pointed out when speaking about alternative transportation that it will save the person an average 4 L.E per 20 kilometres and the government 8 L.E.
“Sekketak Khadra” is an initiative that encourages people to leave behind their cars and take their bicycles to work. That is done through providing racks and bike lanes in streets where cyclers usually go. They managed to install 100 bicycle racks near Heliopolis and Downtown Cairo so far.
In April 2016, the memorandum was signed by Cairo’s governor, the Danish Embassy in Cairo, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and Nahdet El Mahrousa association. It aims at spreading the cycling culture and installing racks to make people think about taking their bicycles instead of their cars.
