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Bus Pooling is an Egyptian startup that is trying to solve the traffic congestion problem that plagues its capital city. The company, which was founded by Mohamad Ehab, Mohammed Nawito, and Ahmed Samir, provides a crowd sourced bus transportation service for commuters within Cairo. It promises a secure, reliable, punctual, and economic ride in exchange for a monthly subscription fee.

The website acts as an online platform that groups commuters based on the proximity of their departure and destination points and on the similarity of their working hours and provides them with a bus. Think of it as a cross between public transport and an online taxi hailing service. Or as a school bus for professionals. It’s Uber for the masses.

Mohamad, who currently serves as Bus Pooling’s CEO, was quick to share some stats on the impact of Cairo’s traffic problem. He cites a recent World Bank report that estimates the annual costs of the congestion in Cairo to be up to $8 billion. The rate is alarmingly high as it sits above the average. The eight billion represent 4% of Egypt’s gross domestic product, that’s four times the usual estimate of 1% of GDP as the cost of congestion in comparable large cities.

He was also keen to note that the negative impact isn’t just about money. In addition to the loss in productivity, noise and air pollution, as well as the time people spend trapped in traffic, time that could have been spent on relaxation, leisure or their families, take their toll too. Worst of all, according to the same study, each year, at least 1000 Cairo residents die in traffic related accidents, more than half are pedestrians. The reason for this anomaly: too many cars, not enough trains and buses.

Although the three co founders share a common academic background, their paths diverged after college. Ahmed Samir’s focus was on software development, Mohammed Nawito worked in business development, and Mohamad Ehab, while initially spending some time in software, shifted to business after completing his Master’s degree from AUC. But fate had it in store for them to reunite. It was during Startup Weekend Giza in May, 2013 that the three met, brainstormed ideas, and came up with Bus Pooling.

During the event, the idea proved very popular among tutors and investors alike. The website was up and running by the end of the event, but a month later, on June 30th, massive protests broke out and everything had to be put on hold. The site finally officially launched in November.

Bus Pooling is one of the seven startups from Venture Labs’s second cycle

Currently, the team outsources the vehicles as it does not have enough cash to buy its own fleet. It is well connected however, with a vast network of people that own buses at its disposal. The company also takes it upon itself to ensure that the quality of both buses and drivers are in check.

One of the main challenges for Bus Pooling has been about creating the culture of sharing rides. This stems from people’s reluctance to properly estimate the costs associate with driving. They tend to forget to include maintenance costs, as well as non monetary costs to their personal transport. That has been slowly changing, people are starting to accept the idea explains Mohamad, and the recent fuel subsidy removal certainly plays into the company’s case. The company has a number of infographics that detail the costs of owning, operating and maintaining a personal automobile. You can access those either from their Facebook or Twitter page. The website also lets users share their bus requests with their colleagues. It includes a nifty transportation cost calculator as well.

The model is replicable in other major cities as well, at least in terms of the IT infrastructure. The service however could adapt its value proposition based on the local attitude and tastes. In another city buses might not be very popular for instance, so the company could easily switch to providing cars instead. The city would need to meet certain criteria for the project to be feasible though: a lacking or inefficient public transport system and expensive alternatives.

For the time being however, and for the foreseeable future, the team will be concentrating on Cairo. “It is a very big market,” explains Mohamad, with over 16 million inhabitants. It is too hot to bike, too crowded to take the metro, and too expensive to take a cab.