Cape Town - After the City’s announcement on proposed changes to the Wynberg Public Transport Interchange (PTI) – more commonly referred to as the minibus taxi rank – residents and taxi associations have already raised concerns about their input.
City urban mobility Mayco member Rob Quintas said on Wednesday that the concept design for the proposed upgrades was presented to the sub-council with residents and interested parties welcome to submit comment from November 7 to December 9.
The design proposes two minibus taxi facilities located to the north and east of the Wynberg railway station and feature’s a new facility with two levels covering an area of approximately 25 000m².
The refurbishment will feature additional bus, walking and cycling lanes and road upgrades located between Brisbane Road and Morom Roads, bordering Wetton and Broad Roads.
The City said the ground level would be used for minibus-taxis serving the Cape Town CBD and the upper level for minibus-taxis serving the metro to south-east routes.
In addition, there will be two stations for future MyCiti services along Station Road and a realigned Sussex Road, along with drop-off and pick-up points for Golden Arrow Bus users.
Summarising the City’s vision for the new and improved PTI, Quintas said: “Currently, due to capacity constraints, minibus-taxis are obstructing walkways. Given that the new PTI will provide holding facilities, this will no longer happen and the whole area will be turned into a pedestrian-friendly environment with universally accessible walkways under cover, where possible. We will use design elements to improve safety and security, and with additional lighting we will create a safe and dignified space.”
Wynberg Ratepayers Residents Association chairperson Joan Van Zyl said the proposed changes were a long time coming.
“This is something we’ve talked about for years already and it will definitely affect residents. I’ve seen some of the drawings for Claremont but Wynberg has other complexities and it’s a big hub. PTI is a big change between Wynberg east and Wynberg west. It’s a good thing that it’s happening and it’s long overdue but they need to give the community enough time as they give everybody.”
Codeta Western Cape secretary-general Nceba Enge said that while they were looking forward to further engagements, they hoped the City would not lose sight of who the changes were for.
“We are looking forward to the changes if it’s going to benefit us but now we are reluctant since we have not been engaged so we can know the full details of the interchange … you can’t have something for us, without us.”
Main Road Route Taxi Association rank manager Amien Carlsen said the City needed to prioritise minibus taxi associations.
“We’ve engaged with the City at the Alphen Centre; they gave us the proposal and slide show and we rejected it. We asked that we be engaged on a smaller scale so we can speak openly on why we think it won’t work properly.
“With the (taxi) politics happening in Cape Town, they are aware that we are killing each other in the taxi industry and this is a recipe for total mayhem in Wynberg.”
On Thursday, the City said: “The City met with representatives from the minibus-taxi industry on Tuesday about the proposed concept design for the upgrade of the Wynberg PTI.
“The industry will submit its comments to the City. Individual minibus-taxi operators are also welcome to submit their comments during the public participation period from November 7 to December 9.”
