City enforces MyCiTi operating standards

The City is committed to providing a world-class public transport system to our residents, with passenger safety being non-negotiable.

'Accountability is an indispensable component in ensuring that the VOCs who are operating the MyCiTi buses are upholding the prescribed service levels, and that there are consequences for those who fail to do so,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, Councillor Brett Herron.

As such, up to 200 penalties to the value of R198 000 have been issued against the three VOCs: Transpeninsula Investments, Table Bay Area Rapid Transit (TBRT) and Kidrogen – who are operating the MyCiTi service in the inner-city area, Table View, Montague Gardens, Atlantis, Melkbosstrand, Dunoon, Salt River and Hout Bay. These penalties, imposed from 1 January 2014 until 30 June 2014, have been paid to the City and relate to schedule adherence, employee conduct, and compliance, amongst others.

Furthermore, as is stipulated in their contracts with the City, VOCs are required to report on the outcome of disciplinary action against employees. Transport for Cape Town (TCT) can confirm that 15 bus drivers have been dismissed by the VOCs since 1 January to date, for reasons ranging from gross negligence and absenteeism, to accidents and misconduct. 

Among the 15 dismissed is the bus driver who had an accident with two stationary vehicles in Victoria Road in Clifton on 2 July 2014 (amateur video footage of the incident attracted some attention on social media networks). The driver was suspended after the accident and dismissed, following an investigation and disciplinary hearing on 7 July 2014. Another trainee dispatcher who, on 13 July 2014, was involved in an accident in Windsor Close in West Beach and arrested on the scene for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, was dismissed on 21 July 2014. He was meant to bring a spare MyCiTi bus to the Stables depot when he drove the empty bus off route and caused an accident.

Gross negligence, theft of company property, blameworthy accidents, absenteeism, driving under the influence of alcohol, and driving without the correct licence are regarded as dismissible offences for MyCiTi bus drivers.

‘These penalties and dismissals demonstrate that we are holding our VOCs to their contractual operating standards and obligations, despite the fact that the MyCiTi Control Centre is not yet operating as designed. It also proves that complaints about drivers and the MyCiTi service in general are investigated and, if substantiated, there are consequences for the VOCs. It is therefore important that passengers work with us by lodging any formal complaints with the Transport Information Centre, instead of only reporting these incidents on social media platforms,’ said Councillor Herron.

In the meantime, TCT will be issuing a tender for the completion of the outstanding works to supply, install, test, commission, and maintain the MyCiTi Control Centre hardware, software and related systems. Prospective bidders can access the document on the City’s website (www.capetown.gov.za) as of Friday 8 August 2014. They will have 30 days to submit their tenders. There is also a 21-day appeal period after the awarding of the tender.
The Request for Quotations (RFQ) that was advertised during the first week of April 2014 had to be cancelled by the City because the submissions that were received during this process were non-responsive.

The new tender was issued in order to ensure that due process is followed and that all Supply Chain Management requirements are adhered to. Due to the complexities in the technological solutions required to manage the Integrated Rapid Transit system, as well as the stage that the previous Control Centre contract was at, there are numerous intricacies that have to be concluded to ensure that the Control Centre operates as originally specified. It is therefore critical to appoint a contractor that can fulfil all the requirements.

‘It is anticipated that the successful bidder will commence with the work within the next three months. In the meantime, the MyCiTi bus operations are not directly affected as the scheduling and monitoring of the buses continues manually,’ said Councillor Herron.