Peak hour traffic to be eased with new BMT lane

By Tina George
3 July 2007

A dedicated lane for buses and minibus taxis on the inbound stretch of Borcherds Quarry and the M5 will be introduced by mid-July to help ease the traffic flow during peak hour traffic.

The right hand lane of the inbound N2 carriageway will be used as a dedicated BMT lane between 05:30 and 09:00.

“This lane will specifically be for BMT and anyone found in the lane will be fined. The city is busy installing cameras that will identify those number plates”, says City of Cape Town spokesperson, Vincent Jonas.

To monitor the new arrangement the city and local government has introduced an automatic number plate recognition system and 18 CCTV cameras along the buses and minibus taxis lane.

Traffic officers and SAPS officials have been deployed to monitor the cameras 24-hours a day.

Drivers of buses and minibus taxis will be also be supervised to ensure that traffic laws and traffic behaviour regulations are complied with.

“These steps will benefit the majority of morning peak-hour commuters using public transport from Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain, Delft, Kuils River and the Helderberg”, says city councillor Elizabeth Thompson.

Comments

Anonymous said…
big whoop but what about the BMT's that will use the other lanes anyway to get to the front?. I travel the M5 on a daily basis and the Koeberg interchange is a nightmare. drivers take the attitude if you cant beat them then join them. the queue jumpers are sickening. it takes me almost one and a half hours to get from Wynberg to Bothasig. i wait in line to get onto the n1 and every tom dick and harry drives down the left lane and pushes in just before the koeberg bridge. the wait is so long i witnessed a woman in front of me knitting! i wonder if she finished knitting her garment by the time she reached the N1?. Irks of all is those that push in dont even have the decency to say thnks let alone make eye contact when they are about to ram the front end of my car to push in. So now im going to have to put up with the mini taxis and buses doing just what they like as well. give me a break!!!
Anonymous said…
Ok, what next is Provincial and City of Cape Town going to think of next. I travelled for 7 yrs with public transport, bus, taxi, train, etc. I will never ever use public transport again now that I have my car. I stay 15km from town, and it already takes me an hour to get to work, leaving home at 6H30 on the N2.
Now I have to get up earlier just to get to work on time, what nonsense.
I have great respect for the initiatives of provincial and Zilla, but this idea is pathetic.

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