MyCiTi to offer more direct routes and 29 new bus stops

An article on the BizCommunity website explains how the City of Cape Town recently conducted a comprehensive review of the MyCiTi bus service. This resulted in the introduction of new routes to new destinations, as well as more direct routes with fewer transfers.

Councillor Brett Herron, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport and Urban Development, said: “Our transport planners recently conducted a review of the MyCiTi service and the passenger demand on the MyCiTi routes. We also undertook customer surveys to determine how we could attract even more commuters to the service. The outcome of the review and the survey informed us where we needed to tweak the service to respond to our commuters’ needs.”

A more comprehensive service
Adding another 150 000 km to the service each month will bring the MyCiTi service closer to more commuters and to where there is a demand.

“For example, we will extend popular routes in the inner city, Table View, Atlantis, and Century City with 29 new bus stops. In addition to these, we will also introduce new routes and more direct routes with fewer transfers,” said Herron.

Starting on October 27, there will be changes to some routes, including new route numbers. New bus stops will be introduced where routes have been extended to meet the passenger demand, and some underutilised stops will no longer be served. Also, some of the routes will be replaced with new direct routes to popular destinations.

Importantly, all of the new stops will be temporary for a few months so that the city can monitor the suitability of the location and the passenger demand before money is spent on permanent infrastructure.

“We expect that the new direct routes to destinations such as the V&A Waterfront and Sea Point will be popular, as no transfers will be required. The purpose of these changes is to improve the MyCiTi service to make it more convenient for commuters, and easier to use.

MyCiTi map
The City is also introducing a new customer-friendly MyCiTi map.

“The new map makes it easier for commuters to orientate themselves. Apart from the MyCiTi routes, the map also shows the different areas and suburbs of Cape Town, as well as the passenger rail lines and train stations,” said Herron.

The new map has been available on the MyCiTi website since October 8, and it will be on display at stations and at bus stops.