All, Cities, Mobility

Good Bicycle Week in Cape Town

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Promenade becomes a shared space

The past week has been a good week for bicyclists in Cape Town, well… more for recreational bicyclists. In 2012, the City of Cape Town announced that it will allow bicycles (and skateboards) on the Sea Point Promenade – originally planned to have a one month trail period, which was extended to 31 March 2013. That date has finally come and we can confirm that the City will now indefinitely keep open the Sea Point Promenaded to bicyclists, skateboards, etc.

moonlightmass

Bicyclists on the Promenade for #moonlightmass.

Bicycles on trains

Also, later in the week, Metrorail announced that it started a pilot program, which allows bicycles on trains during off-peak periods. At the moment it will only be the Southern Line which will legally allow bicycles to be taken on board during the off-peak periods. However, a R20 bicycle ticket will need to be purchased for any one direction the bicycle will be travelling. This initiative, spearheaded by RideYourCity’s Gail Jennings, has come a long way and it’s great to see Metrorail really trying to work with their limited resources and making the urban rail brand ‘cooler’.

You might say, ‘off-peak only?’ and ‘R20?!’ – but this does make sense for this point in time. Have you ever been on a train during peak periods? There is no way a bicycle will fit on any carriage – they are that overcrowded. Not only will it fit on, but fellow travellers won’t welcome this. The “off-peak only” rule as well as the R20 ticket fee will most likely disappear in the near future (2015) when Metrorail receives new, faster trains and carriages from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). Obviously, this will also be extended to other lines when capacity increases. And if you were wondering what times are off-peak, according to the Metrorail website, off-peak is between 9am and 2pm on weekdays and the whole weekend. I don’t know of any working people who can travel during those times, but hey it’s a start and this should be congratulated!

With Metrorail and MyCiTi bus allowing bicycles on board, commuting with different services will become a bigger reality in Cape Town.

pinkbikemetrorail.jpeg_effected

Photo by citycycler with #bikesonboard the Metrorail train.

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About Rouen Smit

Future actuary working at a company based in Cape Town. Love open water swimming. Love taking public transport and feeling the city. The Future’s Bright

There are 5 comments

  1. goobler

    “The “off-peak only” rule as well as the R20 ticket fee will most
    likely disappear in the near future (2015) when Metrorail receives new, faster trains and carriages from the Passenger Rail
    Agency of South Africa (PRASA).”

    NO,
    NO, NO, NO! Contrary to popular belief, all Metrorail trains will NOT be
    replaced by new, faster trains in 2015! The FIRST new train will arrive in 2015
    and will most definitely be destined for the Khayelitsha route. New trains will
    be placed in service over a 20 YEAR period, spread around the COUNTRY.
    Everything in Metrorail will NOT be magically fixed in 2015 either! They are
    moving in the right direction, but there is still a LONG road ahead…

    PLEASE
    stop this populist propaganda; otherwise you will all be very disappointed in
    2015 when the yellow-and-grey will still rule Cape Town!

    1. OSlOlSO

      That is true. But the fact of the matter, capacity will improve from 2015 and it will be felt THROUGHOUT the whole Metrorail system. A train on the Khayelitsha line will improve services on the Southern Line. Did you know that?
      Why…because it means Metrorail has more capacity to deploy and move trains around (on any other line). Obviously.

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