One month after the return of the MyCiTi buses, commuters are happy to see the increase in public transport options to the city centre.
Reintroduced on Saturday 19 February, the N2 Express route, including Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain areas, is slowly picking up after an almost three-year break.
With repair work to stations and the phasing in of specified routes, all the routes became operational on Friday 18 March.
The N2 Express line is categorised as follows:
- D01 between Khayelitsha East and the Civic Centre;
- D02 between Khayelitsha West and the Civic Centre;
- D03 between Mitchell’s Plain East and the Civic Centre; and
- D04 between Kapteinsklip, the Mitchell’s Plain Town Centre and the Civic Centre.
Rob Quintas, Mayco member for urban mobility, says phase one took place between Saturday 19 February and Friday 4 March.
This included buses on routes D01, D02 and D04.
Phase two started on Saturday 5 March and continued to Friday 18 March along the same routes. A further 31 buses are scheduled for the final phase today (Tuesday 22 March).
According to Quintas, a total of 49 buses will be servicing the N2 Express routes from next week.
The City of Cape Town says their most recent figures between Saturday 19 February and Friday 18 March show that around 32 000 commuters have boarded a bus along the N2 express route.
People’s Post polled commuters who have resumed the service.
Wallace September says public transport in general is very unreliable in the area.
“We have buses and taxis, but they are usually overfull, late or constant other problems. I take public transport occasionally, but I am happy to at least have another option,” he says.
Other commuters feel the service means better delivery for the community.
Joseph Phillips, who works in the city, says the travelling options are convenient and well situated.
“It gives the people of Mitchell’s Plain an option to travel in well-maintained buses. We can’t say there is no investment in our area. This is one of them,” he says.
Student Janine October says she will be using the service regularly when she has contact classes.
“I have used buses and taxis to get to town before. There are so many people going in that direction, so to get a bus means you need to hope you are there soon enough.
“The other services also do a good job, but this is just giving people more options and will help a lot,” she says.
Quintas says the overall sentiment about the reinstated N2 Express service has been positive and the growth in followers on all platforms has increased by between 8% and 10%.
“In addition, the MyCiTi app was downloaded 3 700 times in February alone,” he says.
“We have also issued over 8 000 myconnect cards since the N2 Express service relaunched and we expect an even greater uptake once the service operates fully. We anticipate that passenger numbers will increase as the petrol price increases, making travelling by private vehicles more expensive.”
Several repairs are still pending.
“Considering the length of time that the service has not been operating, we anticipated some challenges with the N2 Express fleet.
“However, in a combined effort between the City and its partners, the entire fleet has passed a roadworthy test and the buses have undergone (checks),” he says.
These include:
- Complete inspections were conducted (body, electrical and mechanical);
- oil samples were taken of all major components to ensure the buses are reliable and to minimise breakdowns; and
- each bus has been deep cleaned and tested.
“The buses that have problems have been sent to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and we have experienced many constraints due to part availability. The parts are not locally available and have to be sourced from abroad,” says Quintas.
“These issues were expected and during this teething stage our main focus is to ensure the safety, reliability and efficient operation of the fleet. Breakdowns are monitored and we act immediately, as and when needed.”
- Have you used the MyCiTi services recently? Share your views by writing to us at letters@peoplespost.co.za
