Wynberg MyCiti will fail - taxi drivers

Published May 13, 2015

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Cape Town - Taxi operators have warned the City of Cape Town that a proposed MyCiTi route along Wynberg Main Road, as part of the Lansdowne/Wetton Road corridor, is doomed to fail and will cause conflict among rival operators in the area.

Riedwan Cornish, representing Wynberg taxi operators, said at least 700 taxis would be affected. He said taxi operators paid out by the city to relinquish their routes to the MyCiTi service would move to routes belonging to other operators.

“We have not been consulted, taxis are being displaced by illegal operators and now (the city) wants to implement MyCiTi on this lawless situation.”

Complaints about the city’s lack of consultation about Phase 2A of the MyCiTi project, expected to cost R1.4 billion, dominated Tuesday’s presentations to the Western Cape Government’s standing committee on transport and public works.

Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for Transport for Cape Town, presented the city’s plans for Phase 2A of the project which includes the Lansdowne/Wetton Road Corridor, and the two contested routes that will go along the Brodie Road couplet in Wynberg west, and South Road on the eastern side of the railway line. There will be an 8km stretch where the two trunk routes will overlap, and the city expects to run a bus “every second” on this section.

“We did consider other options but South Road is the only viable route for a bus rapid transit infrastructure because (the buses) need to be able to reach an average speed of 60km/hour.”

South Road residents facing eviction from their council-owned properties in Plumstead and Wynberg have already lodged a high court application against the city’s transport plan for the area.

They have appealed for a moratorium on evictions, and the roll out of the transport plan, pending further public participation and an investigation of two alternative routes.

But Herron said the dispute boiled down to the impact the project would have on a few residents. “We will have to ask residents to make way for a project that serves the greater good.” About 1.4 million commuters stand to benefit from the improved public transport plan.

While some private properties would also have to be expropriated this would be “kept to a minimum”, he added.

Herron said South Road was one of 111 approved road schemes across the city and that 368 council-owned properties fell within these road schemes.

“If we are no longer able to count on tenants in those properties to comply with their leases and vacate those properties when the time comes to build the respective roads, then our city is destined for failure since we will not be able to provide the critical infrastructure needed to provide mobility and access to a rapidly growing city.”

He added that tenants were aware that their rented houses fell within an historic road scheme, and that the city reserved the right to develop as such.

There was no cost analysis of alternative routes, because the city did not consider them to be viable. Detailed reports of the alternative proposals would, however, form part of the city’s court papers when the matter was heard in the Western Cape High Court later this year, he said.

He admitted that there had not been any direct consultation to date with schools, creches and other businesses affected by the proposed route.

The city would have to buy and demolish up to 27 privately-owned properties if it opted for the Rosmead Avenue route.

“This doesn’t make sense when the city already owns properties that it could demolish to implement the roadway.”

But Kristina Davidson of the Wynberg Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association, said there had been no consultation with those affected. “We just want to be consulted and to have the alternatives properly costed,” said Davidson.

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Cape Argus

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