MyCiTi’s Khayelitsha route under fire

Cape Town. 150203. Myciti buses leaving Cape Town depot out of Cape Town. Pic COURTNEY AFRICA

Cape Town. 150203. Myciti buses leaving Cape Town depot out of Cape Town. Pic COURTNEY AFRICA

Published Jun 1, 2015

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Cape Town - The ANC has accused the DA-led City of Cape Town of spending most of its R6.9 billion budget for the MyCiTi service on routes in affluent areas.

“Of the almost R7 billion that has been allocated to the service, about 95 percent has gone into the rich areas,” said ANC councillor Bheki Hadebe during last week’s special council meeting to ratify the 2015/2016 budget. “Hout Bay commuters are given VIP status with bus stops and traffic circles, but in Khayelitsha there are not even pedestrian crossings.”

He said a December report on the progress of the MyCiTi service in Khayelitsha indicated that everything was on track, yet to date there was no electrical installation at the bus stops, no station names and poor lighting. Despite some of the city’s busiest roads being in Khayelitsha, the city had not put in any pedestrian crossings.

During a pre-budget briefing, Hadebe questioned the city’s promise of “open” bus stations in some parts of the planned Lansdowne/Wetton Road corridor. “First it was open toilets, now it’s open bus stations.”

But Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for Transport for Cape Town, said the city had spent more than R6bn on Phase 1 of the MyCiTi service because it was almost rolled out.

“We could have rolled out the service anywhere in the city but we started in that area because Atlantis and Dunoon are poor communities with no access to trains.”

Herron announced significant changes to the MyCiTi tariffs during his budget speech, including the launch of a new monthly ticket that would make public transport more affordable. The ticket would provide for unlimited travel for a set monthly fee, regardless of the time of the journey.

Herron said the city would also reduce the peak period to restrict the impact of peak fares. The new peak period would be from 6.45am to 8am, instead of 6.30am to 8.30am, and again from 4.15pm to 5.30pm instead of from 4pm to 6pm.

Cape Argus

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