Let’s be honest, things need to be easy for us foreigners. Really easy. If not, we get lost, upset, and end up in many unflattering situations.
A prime example is transportation.
We could take cabs (sedan taxis) directly to our destination – generally foolproof, but expensive. Public transportation, on the other hand, is cheaper but has the potential to be confusing.
After an afternoon exploration of the MyCiTi central bus route, though, we were rather relieved to learn that Cape Town’s latest rapid bus service is almost tourist-proof.
Our journey began on Friday at 11am – two Americans with our eyes peeled as we looked for any sort of public transport sign. Our goal: the Waterfront. When we didn’t immediately see anything, we asked a security guard on Greenmarket Square for the closest MyCiTi bus stop. We must have looked like lost tourists because he directed us to the hop-on hop-off city sightseeing tour bus. It was indeed a bus around Cape Town, but not quite what we were looking for.
We asked directions a second time and found a stop on Strand Street in front of the Cape Sun hotel. Finally, what we had been looking for – a clearly labelled gold sign equipped with the street name, bus line number, destinations, map and time schedule. The bus was scheduled to arrive at 11.08am. The shiny new white, blue and red bus pulled up right on time.
The Gardens-Civic-Waterfront service in the central city operates in a large loop.
With only one line running through the CBD, we didn’t have to worry about getting on the wrong bus line. The only possible problem would be hopping on a bus going in the wrong direction.
Of course this is what happened, and it took a few minutes to actually figure out we weren’t headed to the Waterfront.
We got on the bus, sat down and paid a cheap R10 fare for two bus tickets. We looked around and realised there were no route maps and the destination sign was nowhere to be seen.
One map showed an overview of the city, but to outsiders it wasn’t particularly useful.
Thanks to a helpful attendant, we discovered our mistake and learnt that all we had to do was sit tight to eventually reach our destination. While the bus made its way past Gardens, back to the Civic Centre and out to the Waterfront we had a chance to take in the view of our new city (and squeeze in a quick nap). The buses were nice – spacious aisles, plenty of leg room and clean, new seats. It was an afternoon weekday, so they were generally empty as well.
The trip to the Waterfront took a little less than an hour.
After a short walk and lunch, we headed back to the bus stop.
This time, we knew on what side of the street we needed to wait. Again, the bus pulled up right on time. After purchasing another set of bus tickets, we were headed back home.
We put our new knowledge to use on the return trip. The buses don’t announce upcoming stops. They also don’t stop if no one is waiting to get on or off. No longer inexperienced tourists, though, we made it back just fine.
Our only complaints about the MyCiTi central route pertain to labelling. The inside of the bus was equipped with a small screen, which would be perfect for an interactive map to show the upcoming stops, but was turned off the entire time.
While attendants helped when we got confused, announcing what stops we were approaching would have been easier and more efficient.
That seemed like a small price to pay after an inexpensive trip and less than an hour-and-a half on the bus, even with mistakes.
We didn’t get lost, we never felt upset and we avoided any embarrassing situations.
Overall? The MyCiTi buses get a big, American thumbs up. - Cape Argus