MD Quartermain, Camps Bay
On June 3, I took the MyCiTi bus to the airport.
On arrival I asked the MyCiTi cashier the “Off Peak Mover” fare from there to the Civic Centre.
She told me R75, assuring me that it was the only figure she knew. There are at least four options. She referred me to “Fare pamphlets” in a nearby display. The only pamphlets there were Christmas time tables, five months out of date.
I returned to the kiosk at 12.31pm on June 25, where the first cashier’s desk was covered in banknotes and the second with a large serving of French fries.
I asked for R35 to be added to my MyCiTi card (I only needed R30 but the Mover package only allows R35/R50…) The chip eater took my card to the card reader and told me that my existing R33.90 + R35.00 = R68.90 was not enough for the fare and that I would be refused access to the bus.
After a rather heated discourse I insisted on the R35 top-up and more than 16 minutes later (12:47:19 is the time on my receipt) I was handed my card. I caught the one o’clock bus to town. The fare, as given by the MyCiTi website, was R63.10 so I now have a credit balance of R5.80.
What hope has MyCiTi of getting the confidence of tourists and other travellers when these experiences reflect the level of service provided by its staff?
As from July 1, the Mover fare for my trip is only R50.90. I wonder what the cashiers will now tell potential customers.
The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral committee member for transport, Felicity Purchase, responds:
The MyCiTi fares are valid for a 12-month period, with new fares being effective as from 1 July 2019 to coincide with the new municipal financial year.
Therefore, the brochures that are being referred to were valid until 30 June 2019 and thus still applicable when the commuter needed the information (on 3 June 2019).
There are four different fares for the airport route, and these are dependent on the type of value (money or Mover points) you load on your card, and the time of departure.
Higher fares apply to the peak-fare periods on weekdays: 6.45am to 8am and from 4.15pm to 5.30pm. Lower fares apply to all other times, including on weekends and public holidays.
Importantly, it is 30% cheaper to load Mover points on your myconnect card, as opposed to money (Standard fares).
It is true that Mover points are only available in bundles or packages, for example the Mover35, Mover50, Mover100, etc. while money (Standard) can be loaded in any amount. The up side is that the R5.80 is valid until 26 June 2022, in other words, for three years.We will investigate the complaint that the brochures at the airport kiosk are outdated and will replace these if needed.
The information about the routes, fares, and how the service operates, as well as a fare calculator is also available on our website at www.myciti.org.za; or commuters can phone the Transport Information Centre on 0800 65 64 63.
