CT public transport commuters urged to travel outside peak hours

Public transport users in Cape Town are urged to consider travelling outside of the peak-hour period to avoid contact with other commuters.

“The City will, in the coming days, implement several measures at public transport interchanges (PTIs), minibus-taxi facilities, MyCiTi stations and on MyCiTi buses,” said the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for transport Alderman Purchase in a statement.

There will be signage and informative posters to educate commuters about Covid-19 and personal hygiene, so as to avoid being infected.

Purchase said the City was committed to delivering a safe and reliable MyCiTi bus service to their passengers during these uncertain times.

“We believe it is possible to limit the risks if we all do our part in keeping ourselves and our immediate surroundings as clean as possible,” she said.

Passengers are encouraged to avoid full or overcrowded buses, and to open windows to ensure better ventilation.

These are some of the precautionary measures to be implemented on MyCiTi buses:

• The City is looking at the provision of hand sanitiser to commuters as a means to cleanse their hands when they board a bus;
• The City is increasing the frequency of the MyCiTi bus fumigation and cleaning practices – this will apply to the interior and exterior of the buses;
• The City anticipates a decrease in passenger numbers over the next week, given the unexpected closure of all schools and universities;
• MyCiTi station personnel will seek to limit the number of standing passengers on the bus to half of the standing capacity.

Public transport services in Cape Town have stepped up to the plate to fight the spread of the coronavirus after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared it a national disaster on Sunday.

Cape Town bus service Golden Arrow said it would issue commuters regular updates but, in the interim, assured that it would prioritise the well-being of staff and passengers.

“We will be instituting a number of additional hygiene-related measures and will be assessing the situation continuously,” Golden Arrow spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said in a statement.

Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said the region completed its preparedness assessment to limit or prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The assessment had been submitted to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA.

Speaking in parliament earlier on Monday, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula said: “Random screening will be applied in all the taxi ranks and also in the trains – but, equally, taxis will also be expected to undergo sanitation across the country.”

During Sunday’s announcement, Ramaphosa advised South Africans to practise good hygiene and to get tested if they displayed any flu-like symptoms.

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