Cairo bus drivers struggle

A station in central Cairo.  (Asmaa Waguih / For The Times)

Passengers crowd onto a minibus at a station in central Cairo.  (Asmaa Waguih / For The Times)

Gayed counts his fares.  (Asmaa Waguih / For The Times)

A traffic cop directs Gayed in central Cairo. Minibus drivers’ pay is diminished by the bribes they must pay to some police officers.  (Asmaa Waguih / For The Times)

Driver Saad Abdel Gayed talks to an employee of a minibus station in central Cairo before setting off with his passengers. “A year ago I bought bread for 25 piasters [cents], now I pay 50,” he says. “You have to blame the government. The officials have their own standard of living and they don’t care about us. We’re under pressure, but we don’t have time to speak of it because we’re struggling morning through night.”  (Asmaa Waguih / For The Times)

Routes for the quasi-regulated minibuses aren’t numbered, and there’s no such thing as a monthly pass.  (Asmaa Waguih / For The Times)