Following a few stops on a walkabout in Bellville tomorrow (1 October), the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate’s Transport Month campaign is kicking off with a panel discussion about Cape Town’s congestion.
Bellville police along with law enforcement will assist officials and stakeholders who are set to take to the streets at the Bellville Transport Interchange at the crack of dawn between 07:00 and 09:00, according to police spokesperson Lt. Col. Fienie Nimb.
The itinerary is planned as follows:
- Between 07:00 and 07:15 – Principals from all stakeholders will present their principal briefing at the Prasa boardroom.
- From 07:15 to 07:30 – Attendees are to convene at the Launch location at Bellville Interchange following an address by Provincial Commissioner: Lt General Thembisile Patekile, including an address by MEC Isaac Sileku.
- Between 07:30 and 07:40 – Attendees will walkabout to long-distance transport hub
- From 07:50 to 08:00 – The walkabout continues to taxi transport hub• Between 08:10 and 08:20 – The walkabout proceeds to bus transport hub
- From 08:20 to 08:30 – The walkabout proceeds to train station
- Between 08:30 and 09:00 – Attendees will board the train to travel from Bellville to Cape Town where the panel discussion will take place at the Civic Centre, Concourse Level at 10:00
“While the Minister of Transport will be rolling out this transport extortion campaign at Bellville CBD taxi rank, we as police and law enforcement will support the walkabout with visibility and use this opportunity to hand out pamphlets on awareness,” Nimb told TygerBurger.
Amid a growing population and the absence of an efficient and reliable passenger rail service, there is an over-reliance on road-based transport in Cape Town as commuters have been steadily shifting from passenger rail to the road network since 2012, according to a press release by the City.
Simply expanding road capacity is not only extremely expensive and time-consuming, it only provides short-term relief as evidence shows that the new roads and lanes are simply attracting more private vehicles onto the road.
