Impact of Bus Strike will be felt throughout the City

11 April 2017

NEARLY 300 000 people use buses in Cape Town every working day so the impact of the bus strike will be felt throughout the City,” says the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“It comes at a time when Metrorail is underperforming and running at close to capacity during commuting hours leaving commuters with very few alternatives but private cars and taxis,” said Ms Janine Myburgh, President of the Chamber.

This would cost both time and money in terms of taxi fees and lost productivity.

Ms Myburgh appealed to employers to be understanding and urged motorists to give colleagues lifts wherever possible. “In fact, this might be a good time to start lift clubs and plan car-sharing schemes for the future. Perhaps this is a crisis we should use to find new ways to beat Cape Town’s traffic congestion problems.”

It was difficult to predict the effects on the economy as this depended on how long the strike lasted. “It comes at a very bad time for business as April has three public holidays and we lost business during the protests last week. In addition, the month has also brought us the credit down grade so the combined effects will be serious but almost impossible to quantify at this stage.”

Ms Myburgh pointed out that some areas would suffer more than others. “MyCiti has been providing a good service to Milnerton and beyond and with no rail alternative we can expect monster traffic jams.

She said the Council should give cars with more than one occupant permission to use the red lane normally reserved for buses. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and we might well learn something from the improvisation,” she said.

Issued by Dean Le Grange, Media and Digital Co-ordinator, Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 11 April 2017