MyCiti is a
bus rapid transit service in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Operating with feeders, it forms part of a greater Integrated Public Transport driven economic development strategy of the
City of Cape Town
The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metropolitan municipality (South Africa), local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of ...
(CoCT) Metropolitan Municipality in the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
province.
The service is actively being rolled out across Cape Town, and currently provides public transport in about 10% of the city. MyCiTi commenced in 2010 with Phase 1, which features
buses running north to south, along Cape Town's western coastline.
In November 2015 approximately 60,000 daily passenger journeys were made on the MyCiTi service, on 36 routes, using 42 bus stations and more than 600 bus stops, in about 223 peak buses.
Headway of services (i.e., the time between buses on the same route) ranges from 3 minutes to 20 minutes during peak times. It can be up to 60 minutes during quiet, off-peak periods.
History
MyCiTi began operations in May 2010, shortly before the
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
, providing a shuttle service from the
Civic Centre (where a new bus terminus was constructed) to
Cape Town International Airport. It also included a temporary loop around the
City Bowl for the duration of the World Cup.
The first proper
bus rapid transit (BRT) phase (Phase 1A) opened in May 2011. It includes a dedicated West Coast busway from the city centre through
Milnerton to
Table View, along which an express bus service operates. Connecting to this trunk route is a route in the
City Bowl connecting
Gardens, the Civic Centre bus station and the
Waterfront, as well as three feeder services around
Table View,
Bloubergstrand and
Parklands.
In 2012, the first MyCiTi began using its first custom-built 9-metre
Optare Solo bus as part of its fleet. The bus was part of an order of 190 units, to be assembled in
Epping by Busmark 2000, and used as feeder buses. The Optare Solo's shorter size allows it to maneuver easily in residential and dense city areas.
Major expansion of services occurred from late 2013. They include new routes around Table View and Parklands and links to: Century City via Racecourse Road and Omuramba roads; Montague Gardens along Koeberg Road; Killarney, Dunoon and Doornbach via Blaauwberg Road; Sunningdale and Sandown stations on the West Coast Road; Melkbosstrand;
Atlantis, Mamre and Pella.
By 2015 MyCiTi provided a rapid bus service between
Blouberg /
Table View,
Atlantis,
Melkbosstrand,
Dunoon,
Milnerton,
Paarden Eiland,
Century City,
Khayelitsha,
Mitchells Plain and
Cape Town CBD. It also provided feeder services in most of the above areas as well as in
Salt River,
Walmer Estate, and all suburbs of the
City Bowl and
Atlantic Seaboard all the way to
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...
and
Hout Bay.
The MyCiTi bus service has also been extended to Cape Town's south-east, to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, called the N2 Express. It uses Bus and Minibus-taxi (BMT) lane on the N2 highway, which permits public transport vehicles to pass general traffic during the morning peak period.
In October 2018, MyCiTi added 120 000 scheduled kilometre through artificial troops on existing routes and some new routes. It also added more direct services which don't require transfers between different routes, as well as additional bus stops.
The most recent network expansion is Phase 2A, which is currently underway. This multi-year project aims to provide accessible public transit to more than 30 communities across Cape Town.
It forms part of the City of Cape Town's R6.3 billion MyCiTi bus route development.
Phase 2A includes the building of trunk roads along Govan Mbeki Road, using dedicated bus lanes to reduce travel times. This phase will also have open and closed stations in the middle of roads installed, as well as the installation of wider pedestrian walkways and cycling lanes installed along trunk roads.
Construction as part of Phase 2A commenced following extensive public participation. Preparation for a major depot to serve the neighborhoods of Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha has also begun.
Also as part of Phase 2A, in March 2025, construction of South Africa's first elevated circle will begin. This will be established at the intersection of Govan Mbeki Road (the M9) and Jan Smuts Drive (the M17) in Lansdowne, Cape Town. The Sky Circle will connect Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha with Wynberg and Claremont, will be built 6.2 meters above the ground, and will be for the exclusive use of MyCiTi buses.
Aim
The service aims to provide comfortable, convenient, reliable, safe, efficient, car-competitive public transport in Cape Town. The City of Cape Town has built upon the MyCiTi service, and expanded it to form
Transport for Cape Town (TCT), its transport authority. TCT aims to implement the "vision of one" in which a single integrated ticketing system and timetable will be implemented for bus and rail (
PRASA) transport.
Fleet
The service uses high floor
articulated and standard size buses in dedicated
bus lanes; low floor articulated and standard size buses on the
N2 Express service; and smaller, 9m
Optare buses in
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
areas and the
CBD.
The MyCiTi fleet offers
universal access through level boarding and numerous other measures.
Station artwork
In October 2010 the City of Cape Town put out a call for proposals for artists and designers to create artwork on the glass panels at the entrance of the MyCiTi stations.
Payments
MyCiTi buses require cashless fare payment using the
EMV compliant
smart card system, called myconnect. These cards can be bought from MyCiTi stations, or at participating retailers. They can then be loaded at stations, participating retailers, and
ABSA ATMs.
Riders can also buy disposable, single-use cards. Children under 4 years of age can travel for free on MyCiTi buses.
References
External links
Official website{{Cape Town, transport
Bus companies of South Africa
Bus rapid transit in Africa
Rapid transit in South Africa
Transport in Cape Town