The future of Myciti buses do not look bright
National Treasury has defended its stance on proposed changes to the Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG) after concerns were raised by the City of Cape Town over the possible impact funding reforms could have on the future of the MyCiTi bus service and its planned Cape Flats expansion.
This comes after the City warned that the possible phasing out of the PTNG by the 2027/28 financial year could place major public transport projects at risk, particularly the long-awaited rollout into communities including Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.
Cape Town’s expanding MyCiTi bus network, long touted as one of South Africa’s few public transport success stories, now faces uncertainty amid concerns over future national funding cuts that could ripple far beyond commuters potentially affecting jobs, travel costs and billions of rand worth of infrastructure projects already underway.
The City has raised alarm over proposed national reforms to the Bus Rapid Transit funding and warned the uncertainty could jeopardise not only existing MyCiTi operations, but also the Cape Flats expansion project expected to serve more than 1.4 million residents across 30 neighbourhoods, including Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Wynberg, and Claremont.
