City adds ‘beauty’ murals to station deck taxi rank
COLOURFUL murals at the revamped station deck have been received with delight by the public.
About 200 000 people, including commuters, pedestrians, traders, and minibus-taxi operators use the Station Deck facility in the CBD on any given weekday.
The City said new jersey barriers that are used to divert and direct the movement of minibus-taxis within the facility were concrete obstacles, and the idea was proposed for artwork to turn the barriers into colourful dividers.
Construction Co., the contractor involved with the upgrade of the precinct, painted the murals as part of the external paintwork at the facility.
Taxi rank car-wash worker Myles Mtshokotsha said: “The colours in the barrier blocks make a change, because it’s different colours, and it makes the rank look beautiful.”
Herbal tea seller on the rank, Virginia Hotele said: ”I think the paintings are nice and they make the rank look beautiful and neat. I like it. And the writing here (on the barriers) let’s people know that when they walk they must be careful and the drivers must also be careful.”
Mayco member for transport Felicity Purchase said the City may consider rolling out similar murals at other facilities in the future.
“After the recent refurbishment was completed, there were more jersey barriers than before and the facility looked rather dull. So we decided to brighten the place up with vibrant artwork.
“I’m convinced that this helps to improve commuters’ experience within the station deck precinct, and I invite those who visit the facility to next time take a closer look at what we’ve done. The station deck is one of the City’s busiest transport facilities and thousands of commuters from suburbs from all over Cape Town disembark or take minibus-taxis from this rank. At this stage it is the only taxi facility with artwork, but we may consider rolling out this type or similar murals at other facilities in the future, if possible,” Purchase said.
Taxi driver De Villiers Ndolan said said the rank was too small and they needed more space.