By: Abdallah Bedeir
Cairo – Mubasher: The US-based Uber Technologies Inc. announced the launch of a bus service, Uber Bus, in Cairo.
Cairo will be the first city to witness the launch of the new service, the US ride-hailing app revealed.
Uber Bus will be launched in the Middle East within the few coming months, CEO of Uber told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday.
The company will also launch Uber Light, which is a simple version of Uber app that will be compatible with smartphones and non-smartphones, Dara Khosrowshahi added.
He unveiled that Uber has invested $100 million in Egypt’s customer service centre.
The company has completed 10 billion trips until last June, the CEO indicated, pointing out that it has 10 million registered vehicles in the North African country.
He further noted that Uber offers around 90,000 jobs each month in Egypt, highlighting that almost 5 million Egyptians are using the app.
For her part, Egyptian investment and international cooperation minister Sahar Nasr said that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed the importance of providing transportation services across the Arab world's most populous country.
The government is willing to provide the best service and price, Nasr said.
Uber Bus will be launched initially in Nasr City, Mohandessin, Heliopolis, and Downtown, according to Uber’s product manager.
In the same vein, Careem, Uber’s main ride-hailing app rival in the Middle East, on Tuesday announced the launch of its new service ‘Careem Bus’ in Cairo as the first city of operations.
The UAE's ride-hailing app is seeking to launch Careem Bus in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan next year after completing the pilot operation of the service in Egypt, director of Careem Bus Hadeer Shalaby told Mubasher in an interview on Monday.
Translated by: Mai Ezz El-Din
