CAIRO: Egypt has started work on launching smart roads within six months as part of its plans to modernize infrastructure.
Mahmoud Abdel Samie, project manager of Elsewedy Electric, said the company had begun adding electronic toll collection on all gates that link the main roads between governorates.
The project aims to cut travel time, reduce road congestion, reduce accidents through technical solutions, follow-up on the movement of vehicles and their distribution, and provide statistics on the development of national projects, he said.
He also said that the first smart road in the country would be launched within the next six months. Training programs have been set up for Egyptians.
Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir said the country’s road construction system was linked to smart solutions and modern technology in order to achieve safety and security. He said that the electronic gate system aimed to maintain security, increase the speed of payment and prevent traffic.
Egypt’s leadership had directed the localization of the IT industry in road construction to keep pace with global trends, the minister added.
Sayed Metwally, head of the Transport Regulatory Authority, said the body was working on issuing a unified transportation card. The project had been discussed with 12 companies regarding implementation mechanisms, and three of them had purchased the bid requirement brochure.
