Abstract:
The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate is implementing a new range of
innovative initiatives aiming to formalise, improve and integrate minibus-taxi services into
its Integrated Public Transport Network (IPTN). The implementation of previous minibustaxi industry transition initiatives undertaken by the City were the building blocks to the
advancement of minibus-taxi transformation strategies, which this paper intends to expand
on. While some of these ideas and concepts have been presented previously, they have
since been developed further and are now rapidly advancing, which includes the
implementation of MyCiTi Metro South East Corridor (Phase 2A), connecting the
Claremont/Wynberg area to the suburbs in the Metro South East of Cape Town. This
paper provides a review of the progress made on a range of minibus-taxi reform initiatives
the City is implementing and will further provide context as to how they aim to improve and
formalise the MBT industry, by amongst other, integrating the operators into a bus rapid
transit (BRT) system. It is worth noting that some of the initiatives discussed have not
commenced or are in progress, meaning that the end result has not yet materialised.
Reflecting on the City of Cape Town's Industry Transition processes, it provides for an
excellent opportunity to involve current MBT operators as partners in ensuring an
improved public transportation network for all.
