Taxi associations say recent proposed changes announced by the City of Cape Town to the Wynberg taxi rank will result in chaos.
The City said the facility is run down and stretched beyond its capacity, with nearly 48 000 commuters, 1 500 minibus taxis and Golden Arrow buses making use of the facility daily.
“With the imminent upgrade of the PTI (public transport interchange) comes a substantial capital injection that will have an immediate impact on the Wynberg CBD and surrounding neighbourhood.
“Officials from the urban mobility directorate are presenting the proposed concept design for the refurbishment to the local sub-council, and residents and interested parties will have the opportunity to comment on this plan from November 7, 2022, to December 9, 2022,” Mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas said.
Among others, the design proposes two taxi ranks located to the north and east of the Wynberg train station and features a new facility with two levels covering an area of 25 000m².
The refurbishment will feature additional bus, walking and cycling lanes and road upgrades between Brisbane Road and Morom Roads, bordering Wetton and Broad Roads.
“The minibus taxi operators will greatly benefit. Each operator from the West-North; West-South; and East will have its own dedicated operations area, with its own facilities and dedicated entrance and exit routes,” said Quintas.
But, Amien Carlsen from the Main Road Route Association said there were major concerns about the City’s intentions to create one central loading area.
He said the Wynberg rank was largely spared taxi violence due to the fact that the loading areas are split according to the routes.
Another taxi association told IOL anonymously that the City’s concept will only cause war.
“Their main aim is to roll out the MyCiTi routes, and while we cannot oppose that, commuters should be able to choose their mode of public transport. This will only cause bloodshed in the taxi industry.
“The loading areas have been split for a reason: so there could be no more violence, shootings, and robberies.”
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