The City of Cape Town has completed the construction of two new MyCiTi bus depots on the corner of Spine Road and Mew Way between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain. These R430 m depots will house the bus fleet for the new route expansion linking Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and other communities across the metro-south east with Claremont and Wynberg, South Africa’s biggest metro-led public transport project. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis viewed the completed depots on 23 October, together with Councillor Rob Quintas, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility.

The existing MyCiTi N2 Express service from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha to the CBD is already among the busiest routes in the city, with the new route expansion to Wynberg and Claremont set to have a transformative impact for communities across Cape Town’s south-east.

‘It is amazing to see the infrastructure rising before our eyes to bring safe, affordable and reliable public transport along new routes linking Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and communities across the metro-south east. The expansion of the MyCiTi service routes comes at an overall investment of R10 bn, the biggest in metro-led public transport by any South African city.

‘The MyCiTi service expansion is one of the pillars of Cape Town’s record infrastructure investments, which amounts to R40 bn over the next three years, with 75% directly benefitting lower-income households,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.

The two bus depots, each 7,5 ha in size, will house the bus fleet for the MyCiTi south-east route expansion. Each depot has the initial capacity for up to 145 buses, which can later be scaled up to capacity for 250 buses each.

The depots are fully equipped with:

• Mechanical workshops
• Refuelling facilities
• Underground capacity for electric bus charging
• Automated bus-cleaning capacity
• Office space, drivers’ eating area and ablution facilities

‘We are delighted that these completed depot projects also exceeded their local job and small business targets, creating employment for close to 500 locals in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, with 46 local sub-contractors also working on the project. The depots will be the beating heart of our new route expansion, bringing improved, universally accessible mobility for residents, as well as more jobs, economic growth, and better futures for all of us,’ said Councillor Quintas.

Besides the depots, multiple infrastructure projects are in full swing across the metro-south east to provide a scheduled, safe, affordable and universally accessible service to Wynberg and Claremont, including:

• Sky Circle construction – a South African first – at Govan Mbeki Road (M9) and Jan Smuts Drive (M17)
• Bridge construction over Duynefontein and Govan Mbeki Roads
• Traffic lanes, bus stops, signalling and pedestrian and cycling lanes along Govan Mbeki Road
• Major upgrades to enable bus lane construction along Turfhall Road and AZ Berman
• Reconstruction of the westbound and eastbound lanes along Stanhope Road, Imam Haron Road (M24) and Chichester Road; including turning lanes at Claremont Boulevard, Palmyra Road, Ravensworth Road, 2nd Avenue/Livingstone Road, Third Avenue and Doncaster Road and the widening of the Stanhope railway bridge