Cape Town - The new MyCiTi bus station in Adderley Street will make life easier for commuters travelling around the city centre, the City of Cape Town says.
The station is designed for commuters travelling to Cape Town train station, the Golden Acre bus terminus and the Station Deck taxi rank.
“Adderley Street has been the axis of movement in the city for over 360 years, be it with horse and carriage, by bicycle, or on foot,” the city said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Now, nearly four centuries later, the MyCiTi station in Adderley Street exemplifies how clever design, planning and foresight can bring mobility into the 21st century.”
The Adderley Street station is unlike any of the other 34 MyCiTi stations and has a unique design, given its proximity to a heritage site.
Its glass walls along the platforms are on the outside of the columns, creating clean lines, with the Cape Town railway station building and others reflected in the glass on either side.
It also has the lowest roof of all stations. The length of the roof is about 100m.
Brett Herron, the mayoral committee member for Transport for Cape Town, said the Adderley Street station would make transfers between the different modes of transport effortless.
“Transport… always seeks opportunities for easy and effortless transfers between different modes of transport and the MyCiTi station in Adderley Street is as close as we can get to the railway station.”
The city anticipates that the proximity of the MyCiTi station to Cape Town station, Golden Acre bus terminus and the Station Deck taxi rank will draw a significant number of commuters to the MyCiTi service.
“Although the MyCiTi Civic Centre station was only 400m down the road in Hertzog Boulevard, commuters will see the MyCiTi station in Adderley Street as they exit the railway station building.
“From there it will be very convenient and easy to catch a MyCiTi feeder bus to Gardens, Salt River, Oranjezicht, Camps Bay, Sea Point, Fresnaye, Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu,” Herron said.
The station will be in use from Saturday.
Buses from Hout Bay, Salt River, and all but two of the feeder routes that serve the inner city, will stop at the Adderley Street station.
However, routes 108 and 109 (the Hout Bay service) will no longer be available from the Civic Centre station.
The Sea Point service that runs through the Main Road to Queens Beach will start from the Civic Centre and also make a stop at the Adderley Street station.
To make things easier the city has installed “way-finding” signage at the Thibault station.
“Passengers will find it easy to navigate their way, a way-finding signage at the Thibault station guiding passengers to the Cape Town railway station and the MyCiTi station around the corner in Adderley Street from where commuters will be able to transfer to a MyCiTi feeder bus to other parts of the city.”
It was also expected that tourists would make good use of this station, given tourist attractions such as the Slave Lodge, Groote Kerk (the oldest church in South Africa) and the Company’s Garden in the vicinity.
Construction of the Adderley Street station began in November 2013, shortly after the relocation of Cape Town’s famous war memorial - the Cenotaph, erected to honour South Africans who died in battle during World War I and subsequent conflicts - to the middle of the Heerengracht, on the Adderley Street and Heerengracht historic axis, to make way for the MyCiTi station buildings and lanes.
Previously, the intersection at Adderley Street and Riebeeck Street was open, meaning that vehicular traffic could turn in or out of Riebeeck Street and Adderley Street. However, this has been changed to accommodate the MyCiTi buses and to provide a safe pedestrian crossing for commuters every morning and afternoon.
“Adderley Street has been a public transport route since the earliest days when residents moved around in carriages. Today marks the latest addition to this transport history with an investment of over R45 million in a MyCiTi station - inclusive of the associated infrastructure and underground services - that will benefit all of our commuters, in particular those who live far away from the CBD and rely on public transport to get to work,” Herron said.
Cape Argus