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The MyCiti transport system has become a very widely relied on form of transport. Commuters from all walks of life rely on this service on a daily basis to get to and from their places of work. Up until recently it was a service that Capetonians were proud of, a service bragged about as an example of what could be achieved as a solution for the masses.
That was until 28 November. On this day (under the guise of "improving service delivery") the MyCiti powers that be decided to change the timetables. They decided that in order to create new (admittedly much needed) routes to new areas they would take existing busses off major routes to service these new "smaller" routes.
No new busses were added to the service; new timetables were not made visible to clients at the stations or stops. The MyCiti Mobile App was not updated (commuters now being advised that this is not even owned, managed or overseen by MyCiti even though their official logo is represented on the app). Having spoken to a number of your own MyCity staff (drivers and station assistants) it became clear even they were not given accurate timetables, instructions or training as to these changes.
A service that was once so reliable has now become akin to a daily "will I make it to work in time" lottery ticket. Due to the reduction of vehicles on certain routes waiting periods between each bus has been increased understandably resulting in a far larger number of commuters waiting in ever growing queues. If and when busses actually do arrive they are filled to a dangerous capacity – far more than each bus recommends as being safe to carry. To add insult to injury what were always double "concertina" busses have been haphazardly (and with no standard regularity) replaced with single ones. This is now a situation where double the amount of people are trying to commute on what is essentially less than half the previous service capacity.
More than a month on commuters' tempers are now frayed to a dangerous level. Recently, tempers flared on a platform when once again a bus didn't arrive. When one eventually did make an appearance it was a small bus already filled to capacity. A handful of people decided to brave it and literally squeezed into the bus. Put that amount of people literally standing on top of each other in a confined space on a hot summers day and those already frayed nerves and tempers erupted and an inevitable argument begun. Thankfully on this occasion it was merely an exchange of words but at this rate it is only a matter of time before this happens again and escalates to a physical altercation.
MyCiti – you are putting your commuters' jobs, livelihoods, health and safety at risk. Lower income commuters (many of which are the sole bread winners in their family) are being issued with written warnings for not arriving at work on time due to your shoddy service. Those that rely on additional transport in the afternoons to get to their homes on the outskirts of town and those who make use of the earlier services are now forking out extra hard earned income to arrange alternate lifts or pay higher peak rates because your vehicles are late, do not arrive or are too full to safely travel on. It may not seem like a lot of money to your head honcho's but just those couple of extra rand makes the difference in these people being able to put bread on the table that night.
Those with the means are looking into alternative arrangements for travel (adding to the already congested CT traffic) – this loss in your income will need to be made up for by once again increasing fees for those that have no other alternative and can least afford it.
What is it going to take for you to hear the voices of your clientele? Strikes, violence, burning of busses (as seems to be the SA way). Continue as it is and this will be the reality you are faced with.
Shame on you MyCiti – I hope your bonuses and increases are worth the price your clients are paying for your apathy.
