On the move

FOR the first time in decades, there is a real sense that Cape Town is doing all the right things to get its public transport system working effectively to increase mobility, reduce the burden on the road network, shatter the socio-political barriers bequeathed by apartheid planning and give people safe, cheaper travel options.

At the centre of the plan is the MyCiTi bus service whose steady expansion heralds welcome changes for residents s well as visitors.

Developing the network seems expensive as a capital outlay, and is protracted, for there is no quick way of preparing the routes and stations, yet the benefits cannot be doubted, especially at a time of steeply rising fuel prices when commuters, job-seekers and shoppers are increasingly anxious to find more affordable ways of getting about.

The investment, in fact, is a social rather than merely a technological one, for beyond the immediate economic spin-offs of cheaper travel, public transport expands the scope of shared public space.

Shared interests may exist in an abstract sense among motorists, but much more tangibly among commuters. Without such tangible bonds between people who breathe the same air, cities risk being alienating, unsafe and hostile.

Public transport is one of the keys to renovating a sense of belonging and mutual possession of public space.

THERE will long be arguments about whether the MyCiTi service should have been launched in the east metropole to immediately serve the city’s poorest. There’s a good argument, in fact, that sorting out the teething problems on less demanding routes to start with is the far cleverer option.

Much more important is that MyCiTi is being meshed with the greater transport system, and in this regard the launch this month of a metropolitan Transport Authority is a major advance, which will eventually bring all modes of public transport into the same orbit.

When buses and trains especially function seamlessly, safely and affordably, Cape Town’s prospects of being a sustainable and optimistic city will be greatly improved.