The City of Cape Town together with the department of transport is trialling a new traffic light system for MyCiti buses in Table View for a six-month period, before assessing the results, according to a media release by the City.
“The main motivation behind this pilot project is to introduce a signalling system that could end confusion among motorists at these intersections, which up until now served both private vehicles and MyCiTi buses,” the media release reads.
In the past, motorists often mistook MyCiti bus traffic lights signals as vehicular cues, causing collisions — a hazard which can be mitigated with less ambiguous traffic signals.
Permission to run the project on a public road for six months was obtained from the department of transport, after which the findings will be shared with the department, the City’s Mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas told TygerBurger.
“If the department of transport approves of the pilot and the findings, they will make the necessary changes to the South African National Road Traffic Signs Manual so that, any municipality in South Africa may use the new type of bus signals,” Quintas explained.
The City of Cape Town will test the new MyCiti bus traffic light system at four intersections along Blaauwberg Road in Table View:
- Blaauwberg Road and Table View MyCiTi Station (R27)
- Blaauwberg Road and Raatz Drive
- Blaauwberg Road and Grey Avenue
- Blaauwberg Road and Janssens Avenue
“The new pilot system introduced does not use red, amber or green, but rather white, with new symbols that separately indicate “proceed; proceed to turn right; yield; and stop,” Quintas explained.
“The MyCiti bus traffic light system will work alongside the traffic signals for private vehicles, with the timings thereof carefully coordinated to keep the public and private vehicles separate,” Quintas said.
