The City of Cape Town has confirmed that they will be extending the hours of the MyCiTi bus service ahead of a busy festive period.
The City’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, said: “Those driving around the city would have noticed the increase in traffic already.
“With the weather improving and the start of the festive season only a few weeks off, we expect the number of visitors to increase significantly. I want to remind residents and visitors that the MyCiTi service operates a number of routes to our local beaches and places of interest such as Table Mountain and the V&A Waterfront.
Visitors are encouraged to opt for the MyCiTi buses which offer a convenient and scheduled service. Also, part of winding down is not having to drive yourself and to search for parking – I thus advise our locals to give the MyCiTi service a try. Why hassle with congested roads when the buses on the inner-city routes, to Hout Bay and Melkbosstrand will drop you off within walking distance of your destination.
“In addition to being a convenient alternative to private transport, the City will also extend the operational hours of the MyCiTi bus service on routes to shopping centres, tourist attractions and the beaches, and on New Year’s Eve during the festive season.
“The MyCiTi service will operate later than usual to accommodate those who want to do late-night shopping at the V&A Waterfront and Canal Walk. Additional trips will be added after 9.30pm from Friday December 2 until Thursday December 23,” said Mr Herron.
Additional buses will depart from the Waterfront on the T01 trunk route to Table View and Dunoon, on Route 214 to Parklands, Route 104 to Sea Point, Route D01 to Khayelitsha East and Route D04 to Kapteinsklip in Mitchell’s Plain. Later buses will also operate on Routes 251 (Century City), the T03 trunk route (Atlantis, Table View, Omuramba), and the T04 trunk route (Dunoon, Century City).
“We will also add more buses on routes to and from the popular beaches on December 16, 25, 26, 27 and 31, as well as on January 1 and 2 2017. I want to urge beach-goers to rather park in the vicinity of the Civic Centre station in the central business district and take a MyCiTi bus to Sea Point, Camps Bay and Hout Bay. The main routes along the Atlantic Seaboard are notorious for bumper-to-bumper traffic during the festive season and limited on-street parking. Taking the bus is the most convenient option,” added Mr Herron.
Additional buses will operate between the Civic Centre station and Camps Bay (Route 107), Hout Bay and town via Sea Point (Route 108), and between Table View, the Blouberg beachfront and Melkbosstrand (Route 217).“The MyCiTi service will operate late into the night to accommodate those who want to celebrate New Year’s Eve at popular spots around the city. It is a safe and hassle-free option with additional buses operating between 9.30pm and 2am on selected routes and at intervals of 20 to 30 minutes.”
The last bus will leave the Waterfront to Table View and Usasaza (T01) at 1am ; from the Civic Centre to Camps Bay (Route 107) at 1am; from the Table View station to Melkbosstrand (Route 217) at 1am; and from the Table View station to Parklands (Route 214) at 2am.
The MyCiTi schedules will also be adjusted to cater for quieter morning and afternoon peak-hour periods due to the annual holiday period as from Monday December 19 to Friday January 6 next year.
“Those wanting to make use of the MyCiTi service must please remember to buy a myconnect card and load Mover points on their cards as we do not accept cash on the buses,” said Mr Herron.
Those with queries can phone the Transport Information Centre on 0800 65 64 63, or visit www.myciti.org.za for detailed timetables.
