The City of Cape Town’s Transport Network Technology branch will soon activate a reversible MyCiTi bus lane along the R27 between Loxton Road and Broad Road in Milnerton. This bus lane, for exclusive use by MyCiTi vehicles, will permit inbound travel towards the Civic Centre in the morning and outbound travel towards Table View in the afternoon. The alternating direction flows will be controlled and monitored through a technological system designed and implemented by the City.
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The red bus lanes along the R27 are for the exclusive use of MyCiTi buses that operate the MyCiTi bus service. Given the space constraints, the City could not build a dual carriageway system between Loxton Road and Broad Road in Milnerton, and since construction, the single lane along this stretch has been used by buses traveling towards the Cape Town CBD only.
However, this will change very soon with the use of clever technology, when the City implements and goes live with the new alternating direction system.
This system will allow buses to travel along the red lane towards the Cape Town CBD from 00:05 till 12:00 daily. Then, the lane will be closed between 12:00 and 13:00; and will reopen again at 13:00 to allow buses to travel on the red bus lane in the opposite direction, from the Cape Town CBD to Blaauwberg, until midnight. Digital notice boards will reflect “OPEN” and “CLOSED” or both “CLOSED” depending on the time of day.
The City aims to have the reversible bus lane up and running by the end of June 2024.
‘Up until now, the single bus lane between the Loxton Road and Zastron Road has only served the commuters travelling towards the Cape Town CBD during the course of the day.
‘I am incredibly excited that the new reversible bus lane system will allow us to put the red lane to good use, and utilise its maximum potential. Soon, we will have buses traveling in the opposite direction, towards Blaauwberg in the afternoons, when this stretch typically becomes heavily congested.
‘MyCiTi passengers making the outbound journey towards Table View in the afternoon will enjoy shorter journeys in the afternoon peak, and fewer buses in the general lanes will speed up movement for private vehicles too, thus, other road users will benefit as well.
‘This is a smart solution to a mobility challenge and I’d like to commend our Urban Mobility officials for thinking outside of the box in our commitment to alleviating traffic congestion and promoting use of public transport as our Cape Town continues to grow,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas.
The City’s Transport Network Technology branch developed the system and is busy conducting final tests before the official launch later this month.
‘This project is just an example of an innovative approach we have taken to squeeze out more capacity from our existing road network to ensure that public transport users are prioritised,’ said Quintas.
Two thermal AI cameras have been installed at the entrances of this lane to detect unauthorised vehicles, reverse entry, and entry-without-exit. The system is monitored from the Transport Management Centre (TMC) using a custom bus-lane dashboard. Operating personnel at the TMC will manage the system and actively monitor the lane for any safety concerns. If any problem is detected, both red bus lane signs will revert to closed and an alarm will be raised at the TMC.
For example, if a bus is counted entering the lane and is not counted leaving the lane within a predefined time of four minutes, it will be accepted that the bus has stopped somewhere in the lane and the alarm will be sent to the TMC. The lane will then be closed in both directions. The CCTV system will be checked and the operator will take the appropriate action.
Supplied by: City of Cape Town
