Jason Felix
THE city is to cancel its MyCiTi route along Ocean View Drive to Sea Point because of the low number of passengers – only 80 a day – and virtual absence of demand between peak hours.
“Only 5.4 percent of the cost of running this specific route is being covered by the passenger fares and this is obviously unsustainable,” mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said yesterday.
The route had been only a “pilot” and discontinuing it on October 6, would save the city R2.1 million a year. The buses from this route would be assigned to MyCiTi routes that had a higher passenger demand.
Route 113 runs along Ocean View Drive, through Fresnaye, Sea Point and Three Anchor Bay.
“The MyCiTi survey confirmed an extremely low passenger demand on this route, with about 80 passengers on a weekday and virtually no demand during the inter-peak hours, after 8pm or at weekends,” Herron said.
He said the city had done studies into the service on this route, but it had not been intended that it would be rolled out completely.
“It was a pilot project. It did not work and now we have stopped it.”
Commuters between Sea Point and the central business district could use the Route 105 service along High Level Road.
“We cannot provide a service in areas where there is an insufficient passenger demand,” said Herron.
A new MyCiTi express service is to be introduced on the T01 trunk route between Table View, Dunoon and the Civic Centre next year to reduce waiting and travelling times at peak hours.
The city is also awaiting the delivery of buses for the T02 trunk route between the Atlantis station, Table View and the Civic Centre, a service to be introduced during the first half of next year. Herron said this would give Atlantis commuters a direct route to the Civic Centre.
The roll-out of the second phase of the N2 Express service to Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha is scheduled for the end of the year and is dependent on the delivery of 20 18m low-floor buses.
ANC caucus leader in the city council Tony Ehrenreich said: “The city decision to withdraw the service from Sea Point vindicates the opposition parties who have previously said the service should be deployed to areas on the Cape Flats.”
Bob Goebel, the Sea Point Ratepayers Association, could not be reached for comment.