Cape Town – Commuters who depended on the MyCiTi bus along the airport route will have to find alternative transport as the service will be terminated from December 1.
There has been a lack of demand for the airport service, which has not recovered since the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions, the City said on Monday.
In October, the 114 (Platform 8 Civic Centre-Queens Beach) and 115 (Sea Point-Civic Centre) routes were also suspended.
According to City mayoral committee (Mayco) member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, the 50.5% increase in the diesel price from January to November has necessitated an intervention.
A decision has been made that the fleet be redeployed to higher demand routes including routes that are connecting Atlantis to Table View, Century City and the CBD.
“The City’s Urban Mobility Directorate is continuously monitoring the MyCiTi routes to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the service and efficient operations by allocating resources in accordance with passenger demand.
“It is regrettable and unfortunate that we have to suspend the airport service but the City, being a responsible and prudent administration, is obliged to allocate resources where it is much needed and in high demand. The provision of additional buses to high demand areas will improve the day-to-day lives of regular commuters who have a great need for the MyCiTi service,” said Quintas.
The City is expecting to investigate more cost-effective and innovative solutions to resume the service in the future.
“In the meantime, we are focused on improving the efficiencies along those routes where we have commuters in high numbers on a daily basis,” Quintas added.
Cape Times