Bus terminal delays anger students

Students say the administration needs to quickly finish constructing the new bus terminal

Construction of the new Bus terminal, originally scheduled to be completed by the end of August, has been delayed due to water outages which occurred throughout New Cairo this past summer.

“The water was cut off for 22 hours a day for two weeks and electricity was going off too,” said Sherif Sadek, director of auxiliary services.

“Operations were very hard under such conditions.”

The water available for only two hours a day was usually directed to public use in the admissions and registrar office. The water backup was used in the fire and air conditioning systems, which took up one third of total water usage. Sadek also said that the electrical power outage affected operation of heavy machinery.

Ronald Smith, associate vice president for facilities and operations, confirmed that the four water outages in August were the main reason behind the delay, as the pumping machines were not working. Consequently construction of concrete and mud walls was postponed. He added that workers were not performing to the best of their abilities during Ramadan, with the Eid vacation causing further delay.

Some of the buses have been temporarily moved to the parking area at Gate 4, while certain parking sections have been closed pending the terminal’s completion. This has proved challenging for many students forced to find alternative parking solutions.

Mostafa Hassanen, a physics senior, is one such student who finds the current situation inconvenient.

“Since the beginning of the summer, I can’t find a parking place so I usually end up parking outside the university,” said Hassanen.

Hend Reda, a CMA senior said: “Parking at Gate 4 is a catastrophe and at Gate 2 it’s either closed or too small.”

Reda suggested that the parking area behind each building be dedicated to its students. “I’m a mass communication student, I should find a parking place near the BEC,” Reda insisted.

According to the transportation department’s website, the new bus terminal will provide new safety measures. It will have a proper layout for getting in and out of buses safely with wider lanes, more shaded areas, restrooms and vending machines.

The new terminal will also use activation machines to recognize student IDs as bus passes instead of the current system of using bus stickers. Upon completion the new bus terminal is expected to free up a further 240-250 parking spaces available for cars.

When asked about the new expected date for completing the terminal, Smith said it would depend on how quickly workers get back on schedule.