The City has completed the construction of two new MyCiTi bus depots on the corner of Spine Road and Mew Way between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, accompanied by mayco member for Urban Mobility Rob Quintas, inspected the sites today.
These R430 m depots will house the bus fleet for the new route expansion linking Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and other communities across the metro south-east with Claremont and Wynberg.
Hill-Lewis said the existing MyCiTi N2 Express service from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha to the CBD was already among the busiest routes in the city, the new route expansion to Wynberg and Claremont set to have a transformative impact on communities across Cape Town’s south-east.
“It is amazing to see the infrastructure rising before our eyes to bring safe, affordable and reliable public transport along new routes linking Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and communities across the metro south-east. The expansion of the MyCiTi service routes comes at an overall investment of R10 bn, the biggest in metro-led public transport by any South African city. The MyCiTi service expansion is one of the pillars of Cape Town’s record infrastructure investments, which amounts to R40 billion over the next three years, with 75% directly benefiting lower-income households.”
He said the two bus depots each 7,5 ha in size will house the bus fleet for the MyCiTi south-east route expansion. Hill-Lewis said each depot has the initial capacity for up to 145 buses, which can later be scaled up to capacity for 250 buses each. He said the depots are fully equipped with, mechanical workshops, refuelling facilities, underground capacity for electric bus charging, automated bus-cleaning capacity, office space, drivers’ eating area and ablution facilities.
Quintas described the construction of the depots as an asset to the two communities as they will uplift them.
He said: “We are delighted that these completed depot projects also exceeded their local job and small business targets creating employment for close to 500 locals in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, with 46 local sub-contractors also working on the project. The depots will be the beating heart of our new route expansion, bringing improved universally accessible mobility for residents as well as more jobs, economic growth and better futures for all of us.”
Besides the depots multiple infrastructure projects were in full swing across the metro south-east to provide a scheduled, safe, affordable and universally accessible service to Wynberg and Claremont.
