Family transportation operating normally despite gas problems

The solar gas crisis is still ongoing after 69 days, gradually escalating with little being done to solve the problem. The crisis has put AUC’s transportation system in a state of disarray.

Mamdouh Gaber, AUC’s transportation manager, said that the crisis is not only disrupting the university’s transportation schedule but also causes traffic because of the lengthy lines at gas stations.

“There are two main gas stations on the Ring Road to AUC, creating enormous traffic jams; there is also the Mobil gas station near the JW Marriott that blocks the Ring Road all the way to Road 90,” he says, “so we send drivers to fill tanks at times we think the stations wouldn’t be congested.” He added that there is a new night shift primarily dedicated to supplying AUC vehicles with gas.

In his statement to The Caravan, Gaber explained that Family Transport and Nile Gate Travel companies are technically responsible for supplying the university’s buses with gas, and that the university should not be responsible for such a crisis. “They are in charge of filling the buses with gas, be it from the black market or anywhere else but there is an agreement that [the company] has to fulfill,” said Gaber.

“In the case of a severe crisis, we have a back-up schedule where we decrease the number and the duration of trips, but yet manage to serve the maximum number of students and staff,” Gaber said.

“The R5 and R2 routes serve Heliopolis and NasrCity, respectively; they use three mini buses, which can be replaced instead with one or two large buses that serve both areas and combine the routes.”

Zakaria Mohamed, a bus driver who has been working for AUC for the past three years, described the lack of gas as “disastrous”.

He said: “It takes the driver not less than three hours at a gas station, and it happens that after hours of waiting that there is no solar left to fill the tanks.”

He also pointed out that drivers are sometimes forced to buy gas from the black market at almost double the price.

Mohamed said that he wishes students would be more understanding and patient when he refuses to open the air conditioning as it consumes a huge amount of solar.

Rana al-Maraashly, an electronics major who usually rides R7 complained that the crisis is affecting the bus schedule, and that if one bus is filled, it takes a lot of time for them to bring another.

On the other hand, Lobna Tarek, a student who is also majoring in electronics, said: “I do not feel any change in the bus schedule and I believe it is performing normally. However, I can sense it is a huge problem from the unusual traffic at gas stations”.

The government has not yet proposed any solutions for the gas problem, but the university says it can resort to its back-up schedule should the need arise.