Throughout the history of Cairo, the principle form of transportation has been walking. Before the introduction of carriages and automobiles, camels or donkeys were the only alternatives for carrying goods or traveling long distances. The old sections of Cairo that still retain the old narrow, winding roadways, continue to rely on walking for transportation, but the larger city has changed its ways.

Muhammad Ali’s 1845 plan for the city, called to create new and enlarged streets, even though in 1845 he was the only owner of a carriage in the city. Two of the planned thoroughfares were actually constructed. The more famous of the two streets was Muhammad Ali Street that ran diagonally between Azbakiyah and the Citadel. It was complete in 1875, by Muhammad’s son Ismail. Homes, mosques, buildings, and cemeteries were razed in order to create space for the two streets. The cost of demolition was a main factor that caused the other planned thoroughfares to be dropped.

By 1875 when the two streets were finished there were more than 900 carriages in Cairo and a new plan was ready. The older areas were to remain serviced by the 2 roadways built by Ismail and a grid pattern with crossing diagonals and open spaces was designed for the new developments.

The railroad from Alexandria to Cairo was complete in 1854. Another line from Cairo to the Suez Canal was complete in 1858, only to be abandoned ten years later due to poor construction.

In 1898 a tramline was constructed over the top of Khalij Misr, the ancient canal to the Red Sea. The canal had begun to breed unsanitary conditions and with financial aid from Europe, the canal was filled-in and the tramline constructed. This was one of the earliest tramlines built, even predating a tram system in New York City. The tramline was also the first north-south transportation route through Cairo. The line extending northeast of the city drew population and industry to undeveloped land in Heliopolis. By 1917, the tram system 30 different lines ran throughout the city.

The first permanent bridge was built across the Nile in 1871; a larger iron swing bridge was completed soon after in 1872. Cars were introduced onto the roads of Cairo in 1903 and by 1910 there were over 619 private cars, 80 taxis, and 182 motorcycles. The number of private cars jumped to about 7,500 in 1930 to 34,000 by 1955. This is not to mention the number of taxis, buses, and motorcycles crowding the streets. By 1980 over 300,000 cars were in Cairo and 1,000 deaths resulted from automobile accidents that year, a rate 16 times larger than the death rate due to automobile accidents in New York City, where there was a much greater volume of cars. The death rate due to automobile accidents is one illustration of the danger on Cairo's congested streets.

Busses are an important form of transport for the masses in Cairo. Those visiting usually take taxis, which are more accessible and less confusing with a direct route. Whatever transport one is using, the streets in Cairo are a bizarre system of movement, whatever written rules there are, are rarely followed. Stop signs or red lights do not necessarily mean a driver will slow down or stop on a busy streets. The ever-present sound of car horns everywhere in Cairo becomes constant background noise and supposedly if a person lives long enough in Cairo, the language of the horns will begin to explain the travel network of the streets.

The first subway system in Africa or the Middle East was Cairo’s Metro. The first line opened in 1987, linking industrial Helwan in the south to downtown Cairo. A line linking Heliopolis in the northeast to downtown was completed in 1989.