The City should endeavour to absorb additional costs rather than to downscale the MyCiti bus service

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry strongly opposes the decision to downscale the MyCiti bus service. The Chamber also urges City authorities to prevent the MyCiti company proceeding with this plan, which involves the suspension at short notice of two MyCiti routes from October 1 -- to the detriment of urban commuters.

The move is reportedly an attempt to contain soaring costs associated with the high cost of diesel. It will be followed by fare increases for other routes as from November 1.

We believe the City should endeavour to absorb the additional cost rather than further erode a public transport infrastructure that is already severely depleted due largely to the implosion of the passenger rail service. The MyCiti bus routes connect commuters to the economy and are therefore a vital public service that should be cross-subsidised if necessary. The longer-term negative impacts of reducing mobility within the metropolitan area far outweigh any short term benefit to the City’s balance sheet.

We note with some dismay that the decision to downscale the service comes less than a week after the City’s head of Urban Mobility Rob Quintas outlined the City’s vision for a “less car-centred” Cape Town where commuters could make better use of public transport. We fail to see how suspending two routes will help fulfil the City’s vision. If anything, this decision will add more cars to already congested roads.