Bursting at the seams

LONDONhas the Tube, New York has its Subway, Paris has the Metro, while Cape Town has, um, Metrorail. The reason most major high-density cities work is because of their safe, dependable public transport systems. The citizens of these first-class cities don’t drive to work, most of them don’t even have a car.

Of course, the MyCiTi bus service has provided a safer alternative to the trains but, while the city is rolling out further phases, many areas of the metropole will not be serviced.

And our roads will have to prepare for a heavier load, considering the amount of construction going on in and around the city. The CTICC is being expanded along the Foreshore, its neighbour being the new Chris Barnard Memorial Hospital. There are also developments within the V&A Waterfront.

It is, of course, thrilling being part of a city that is growing and bustling with life and industry. However, Cape Town is already bursting at the seams, and the road system is bearing the brunt of it.

According to the Cape Chamber of Commerce, a trip from the northern suburbs to the city centre that used to take 45 minutes a few years ago, now takes 90 minutes in peak-hour traffic.

The council has proposed banning trucks at certain times of the day to ease congestion. But it has to go further than that.

IN BEIJING, to relieve the pressure of more than six million cars on its roads, authorities are expanding its subway system and have introduced a system of restricting cars’ access to the city. Cars with even-numbered licence plates are allowed into the city on one day, odd-numbered plates the next. And London introduced its Congestion Charge Zone in its inner city. But commuters there have a variety of safe and reliable alternatives.

It’s no use limiting the number of parking bays in the city to discourage the number of cars without providing its citizens with a safe alternative.

Finding a solution should not be on the city’s shoulders alone. Businesses and individuals need to push for a workable public transport system of which a first-class city can be proud.