Bianca Coleman
THERE has never been a better time to ride a bus in Cape Town. Since last summer's Holiday EsCape Times, the MyCiTi service has been expanded to include several new routes, radiating from the main central station at the Civic Centre as far as Melkbosstrand, Table View, Century City, Cape Town International Airport, Camps Bay, Sea Point, Salt River, and the upper reaches of the city bowl.
And to think that a year ago it was pretty much just the V&A Waterfront and Table View, through the central city.
Along with all these new routes comes an incredibly complex distance-based fare system, which is separated further into peak and off-peak fares (I think it sucks that work commuters have to pay more in peak times), as well as different fares depending on how you've loaded and assigned your myconnect ((CORR, "my" in bold)) card, and whether you break your journey, and for how long.
It's hard to figure out, and although all the staff at the bus stations and the call centre are extremely helpful and well-meaning, I suspect that a lot of the time some of them don't have a clue either. Although to be fair, they often have many clues. I've been test-riding some of the new routes and have had a lot of questions, which have either received a selection of answers, or confusion and head-scratching. I like it best when they make up a ridiculous answer, whether it's true or not.
For example, the other day when I asked how the system could calculate how far I've travelled. To explain: to ride the MyCiTi you need to buy a card and load it with money. You can save 20% by stating you want the Mover package (available in certain denominations), but you apparently have to tell the person behind the glass to "assign" your card, otherwise they load it as standard fare. Or so I was told. Subsequently, when "tapping in and out" at stations and on buses, and seeing my card balance, I know now this is rubbish. The assigning part, I mean. The Mover part is for real, and well worth it if you're going to use the bus a lot. It still doesn't explain my missing points, but I've given up on those. Because there are penalties, you see, for transgressions like not tapping in and out properly, or not having enough money or points loaded on your card.
Anyway, I decided to spend the afternoon riding one of the Sea Point routes, and one of the Camps Bay routes, both of which are mostly very scenic with sea views. Departing from my closest station in Gardens, I went to the Civic Centre, both the above destinations (one through the Waterfront) and back into the middle of town - over about four hours - and the whole lot cost me an off-peak single fare of R4.40 (the minimum fare for 0-5km). This was because I stayed in the system and in the bus or station. But none of the staff could explain it. One guy told me with great certainty that the card would track where I went and add it all up. Hilarious.
So yes, you can apparently do quite a bit of sight-seeing for very little. If you get off for a drink or an ice cream , change buses en route, or do return journeys it will cost more. I was just lucky enough to inadvertently find a rather large loophole.
The routes I've travelled so far are brilliant, with loads of destination and activity options. And not for nothing do they call it an integrated "rapid transit" system; those new little buses zip around at an alarming speed, and treat red traffic lights the same way motorists do (ie go faster, not slower). If you live anywhere along the new suburban routes I strongly suggest you do not park your car close to the corner.
The best part of taking the bus is not having to drive, or look for parking. And you can drink. The roads these days are full of perils, from idiots who ignore the most basic of road rules (red traffic lights, for example, see above) to such extensive roadworks you'd be forgiven for thinking we're putting in an underground railway. Ironically, these are mostly to make more space for the MyCiTi buses. The bus does not provide immunity to traffic jams - like going through the Waterfront on a Saturday afternoon, avoid at all costs - but at least you don't have to sweat and fume. Instead you can just gaze serenely out the window and smile. Or read a book.
The buses are clean, efficient (running almost always on time, give or take a few minutes), the staff are great - heck, they even helped me get back my jersey that I left on one of the buses, the routes are extensive and several of them overlap so you can plan better journeys, and compared with the price of petrol and parking, very affordable. And did I mention you can drink? Win.
More info: www.myciti.org.za, call 0800 65 64 63, or mail [email protected]
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