97-661: MyCiti is a bus rapid transit service with feeders, which forms part of a greater Integrated Public Transport driven economic development strategy of the City of Cape Town Municipality (CoCT) in South Africa . The service is being rolled out across the Cape Metropole , and provides a significantly enhanced public transport system in about 10% of the City. The service commenced in 2010 with Phase 1, which features buses running north to south along
194-515: A prison where people were isolated, banished, and exiled for nearly 400 years. It was also used as a leper colony, a post office, a grazing ground, a mental hospital, and an outpost. The Cape Peninsula is a rocky and mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the continent. At its tip is Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope . The peninsula forms
291-510: A severe water shortage from 2015 to 2018. According to Oxfam , "in the face of an imminent water shortage, the city of Cape Town in South Africa successfully reduced its water use by more than half in three years, cutting it from 1.2bn litres per day in February 2015 to 516m litres per day in 2018." In 2021 Cape Town also experienced a violent turf war between rival taxi firms which led to
388-611: A "BHLS" (stands for Bus with a High Level of Service ). The term transitway was originated in 1981 with the opening of the OC Transpo transitway in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada. Critics have charged that the term "bus rapid transit" has sometimes been misapplied to systems that lack most or all the essential features which differentiate it from conventional bus services. The term " bus rapid transit creep " has been used to describe severely degraded levels of bus service which fall far short of
485-472: A BRT system to 35,000 passengers per hour. The single-lane roads of Istanbul Metrobus had been frequently blocked by Phileas buses breaking down, causing delays for all the buses in a single direction. After focusing on Mercedes-Benz buses, capacity increased to 45,000 pph. Light rail, by comparison, has reported passenger capacities between 3,500 pph (mainly street running) to 19,000 pph (fully grade-separated ). Cape Town Cape Town
582-603: A few other towns. Industry and commerce is largely in service of the area. After the Cape Peninsula, Helderberg is the next most mountainous part of Greater Cape Town, bordered to the north and east by the highest peaks in the region along the watershed of the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains, which are part of the Cape Fold Belt with Cape Supergroup strata on a basement of Tygerberg Formation rocks intruded by part of
679-671: A flood of immigration into South Africa. In 1895 the city's first public power station, the Graaff Electric Lighting Works , was opened. Conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government resulted in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. Britain's victory in this war led to the formation of a united South Africa. From 1891 to 1901, the city's population more than doubled from 67,000 to 171,000. As
776-428: A low-noise, low-emissions "hush mode" (in which the diesel engine operates but does not exceed idle speed ) when underground. The need to provide electric power in underground environments brings the capital and maintenance costs of such routes closer to those of light rail, and raises the question of building or eventually converting to light rail. In Seattle, the downtown transit tunnel was retrofitted for conversion to
873-532: A major gap at the Fish Hoek–Noordhoek valley. In the south much of the area is a low sandstone plateau with sand dunes. Maximum altitude is 1113 m on Table Mountain. The Cape Flats (Afrikaans: Kaapse Vlakte) is a flat, low-lying, sandy area, area to the east the Cape Peninsula, and west of the Helderberg much of which was wetland and dunes within recent history. To the north are the Tygerberg Hills and
970-448: A number of satellite towns, suburbs and rural areas such as Atlantis , Bellville , Blouberg , Brackenfell , Durbanville , Goodwood , Gordon's Bay , Hout Bay , Khayelitsha , Kraaifontein , Kuilsrivier , Macassar , Melkbosstrand , Milnerton , Muizenberg , Noordhoek , Parow , Philadelphia , Simon's Town , Somerset West , and Strand among others. The Cape Peninsula is 52 km (30 mi) long from Mouille Point in
1067-449: A result, less forced ventilation will be required in tunnels to achieve the same air quality. Another alternative is to use electric propulsion, which Seattle 's Metro Bus Tunnel and Boston 's Silver Line Phase II implemented. In Seattle, dual-mode (electric/diesel electric) buses manufactured by Breda were used until 2004, with the center axle driven by electric motors obtaining power from trolley wires through trolley poles in
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#17328584296061164-451: A shared hybrid-bus and light-rail facility in preparation for Seattle's Central Link Light Rail line, which opened in July 2009. In March 2019, expansion of the light rail in the tunnel moved busses back to surface streets. Bi-articulated battery electric buses cause no problems in tunnels anymore but provide BRT capacity. A BRT system can be measured by a number of factors. The BRT Standard
1261-419: A static map, featuring services like trip planning, live arrival and departure times, up-to-date line schedules, local station maps, service alerts, and advisories that may affect one's current trip. Transit and Moovit are examples of apps that are available in many cities around the world. Some operators of bus rapid transit systems have developed their own apps, like Transmilenio. These apps even include all
1358-477: A total daily ridership), in the developing world this capacity constraint (or rumor of a capacity constraint) was a significant argument in favor of heavy rail metro investments in some venues. When TransMilenio opened in 2000, it changed the paradigm by giving buses a passing lane at each station stop and introducing express services within the BRT infrastructure. These innovations increased the maximum achieved capacity of
1455-581: Is a risk of a dangerous gap between bus and platform , and is even greater due to the nature of bus operations. Kassel curbs or other methods may be used to ease quick and safe alignment of the BRT vehicle with a platform. A popular compromise is low-floor buses with a low step at the door, which can allow easy boarding at low-platform stops compatible with other buses. This intermediate design may be used with some low- or medium-capacity BRT systems. The MIO system in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, pioneered in 2009
1552-1022: Is a route in the City Bowl connecting Gardens , the Civic Centre bus station and the Waterfront , as well as three feeder services around Table View , Bloubergstrand and Parklands . In 2012, the first MyCiTi began using its first custom-built 9-metre Optare Solo bus as part of its fleet. The bus was part of an order of 190 units, to be assembled in Epping by Busmark 2000, and used as feeder buses. The Optare Solo's shorter size allows it to maneuver easily in residential and dense city areas. Major expansion of services occurred from late 2013. They include new routes around Table View and Parklands and links to: Century City via Racecourse Road and Omuramba roads; Montague Gardens along Koeberg Road; Killarney, Dunoon and Doornbach via Blaauwberg Road; Sunningdale and Sandown stations on
1649-569: Is less complex than rail maintenance. Moreover, buses are more flexible than rail vehicles, because a bus route can be altered, either temporarily or permanently, to meet changing demand or contend with adverse road conditions with comparatively little investment of resources. The first use of a protected busway was the East Side Trolley Tunnel in Providence , Rhode Island . It was converted from trolley to bus use in 1948. However,
1746-648: Is the legislative capital of South Africa . It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa . It is the country's second-largest city, after Johannesburg , and the largest in the Western Cape . The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality . The city is known for its harbour , its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region , and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point . In 2014, Cape Town
1843-518: Is the valley of the Steenbras River, in which the Steenbras Dam was built as a water supply for Cape Town. The dam has been supplemented by several other dams around the western Cape, some of them considerably larger. This is almost entirely a conservation area, of high biodiversity. Bellville , Brackenfell , Durbanville , Kraaifontein , Goodwood and Parow are a few of the towns that make up
1940-459: Is today over 18.5 miles long. The OC Transpo BRT system in Ottawa , Canada, was introduced in 1983. The first element of its BRT system was dedicated bus lanes through the city centre, with platformed stops. The introduction of exclusive separate busways (termed 'Transitway') occurred in 1983. By 1996, all of the originally envisioned 31 km Transitway system was in operation; further expansions were opened in 2009, 2011, and 2014. As of 2019,
2037-661: The 2010 FIFA World Cup , providing a shuttle service from the Civic Centre (where a new bus terminus was constructed) to Cape Town International Airport . It also included a temporary loop around the City Bowl for the duration of the World Cup. The first proper bus rapid transit (BRT) phase (Phase 1A) opened in May 2011. It includes a dedicated West Coast busway from the city centre through Milnerton to Table View , along which an express bus service operates. Connecting to this trunk route
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#17328584296062134-533: The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 . The city became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony , whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s, partially as a result of numerous wars with the amaXhosa on the colony's eastern frontier. In 1833 slavery was abolished in the colony freeing over 5500 slaves in the city, almost a third of the city's population at the time. The Convict Crisis of 1849, marked by substantial civil upheaval, bolstered
2231-559: The BRT Standard promoted by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and other organizations. Compared to other common transit modes such as light rail transit (LRT), bus rapid transit (BRT) service is attractive to transit authorities because it does not cost as much to establish and operate: no track needs to be laid, bus drivers typically require less training and less pay than rail operators, and bus maintenance
2328-742: The Battle of Salt River , the Portuguese admiral Francisco de Almeida and sixty-four of his men were killed and his party was defeated by the "Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling) using cattle that were specially trained to respond to whistles and shouts. The Gorinaiqua were one of the Khoikhoi clans who inhabited the area. In the late 16th century French, Danish, Dutch and English, but mainly Portuguese, ships regularly continued to stop over in Table Bay en route to
2425-695: The Cape Supergroup , of which parts of the Graafwater and Peninsula Formations remain, were uplifted between 280 and 21S million years ago, and were largely eroded away during the Mesozoic. The region was geologically stable during the Tertiary, which has led to slow denudation of the durable sandstones. Erosion rate and drainage has been influenced by fault lines and fractures, leaving remnant steep-sided massifs like Table Mountain surrounded by flatter slopes of deposits of
2522-672: The Far East . Jan van Riebeeck 's arrival on 6 April 1652 established the VOC Cape Colony , the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope , becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony . Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was
2619-496: The Fort de Goede Hoop (later replaced by the Castle of Good Hope ). The settlement grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labour. This labour shortage prompted the local authorities to import enslaved people from Indonesia and Madagascar . Many of these people are ancestors of modern-day Cape Coloured and Cape Malay communities. Under Van Riebeeck and his successors, as VOC commanders and later governors at
2716-605: The Indonesian capital city . Bus rapid transit is a mode of mass rapid transit (MRT) and describes a high-capacity urban public-transit system with its own right of way , vehicles at short headways , platform-level boarding, and preticketing. The expression "BRT" is mainly used in the Americas and China; in India, it is called "BRTS" (BRT System); in Europe it is often called a "busway" or
2813-906: The MIO in Cali since November 2008, Metrolinea in Bucaramanga since December 2009, Megabús in Pereira since May 2009. This design is also used in Johannesburg 's Rea Vaya . The term "station" is more flexibly applied in North America and ranges from enclosed waiting areas ( Ottawa and Cleveland ) to large open-sided shelters ( Los Angeles and San Bernardino ). A unique and distinctive identity can contribute to BRT's attractiveness as an alternative to driving cars, (such as Viva, Max, TransMilenio, Metropolitano, Metronit, Select) marking stops and stations as well as
2910-576: The Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. In current popular culture these areas are often referred to as being beyond the " boerewors curtain," a play on the term " iron curtain ." UNESCO declared Robben Island in the Western Cape a World Heritage Site in 1999. Robben Island is located in Table Bay, some 6 km (3.7 mi) west of Bloubergstrand, a coastal suburb north of Cape Town, and stands some 30m above sea level. Robben Island has been used as
3007-595: The Southern Suburbs , close to the mountains, rainfall is significantly higher and averages closer to 1,000 mm (39.4 in). Summer, which lasts from December to March, is warm and dry with an average maximum of 26 °C (79 °F) and minimum of 16 °C (61 °F). The region can get uncomfortably hot when the Berg Wind , meaning "mountain wind", blows from the Karoo interior. Spring and summer generally feature
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3104-615: The Table Mountain group sandstones that were deposited on the eroded surface of the granite and Malmesbury series basement about 450 million years ago. The sand, silt and mud deposits were lithified by pressure and then folded during the Cape Orogeny to form the Cape Fold Belt , which extends in an arc along the western and southern coasts. The present landscape is due to prolonged erosion having carved out deep valleys, removing parts of
3201-435: The 15,000 to 25,000 range. Research of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) shows a capacity ranking of MRT modes, based on reported performance of 14 light rail systems, 14 heavy rail systems (just 1-track + 3 2-track-systems "highest capacity") and 56 BRT systems. The study concludes, that BRT-"capacity on TransMilenio exceeds all but the highest capacity heavy rail systems, and it far exceeds
3298-562: The 19th century came to an end, the economic and political dominance of Cape Town in the Southern Africa region during the 19th century started to give way to the dominance of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the 20th century. In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa , which unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics and the British colony of Natal . Cape Town became
3395-491: The Atlantic Ocean with significant precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. Winter months in the city average a maximum of 18 °C (64 °F) and minimum of 8.5 °C (47 °F). Winters are snow and frost free, except on Table Mountain and on other mountain peaks, where light accumulation of snow and frost can sometimes occur. Total annual rainfall in the city averages 515 mm (20.3 in) although in
3492-621: The Cape was considered a " Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of " Bantus ", i.e. Black Africans. The implementation of this policy was widely opposed by trade unions, civil society and opposition parties. It is notable that this policy was not advocated for by any Coloured political group, and its implementation was a unilateral decision by the apartheid government. During the student-led Soweto Uprising of June 1976, school students from Langa , Gugulethu and Nyanga in Cape Town reacted to
3589-464: The Cape, a wide range of agricultural plants were introduced to the Cape. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had a large and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. With the Dutch Republic being transformed into Revolutionary France 's vassal Batavian Republic , Great Britain moved to take control of Dutch colonies, including
3686-582: The Indies. They traded tobacco, copper, and iron with the Khoikhoi clans of the region in exchange for fresh meat and other essential travelling provisions. In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the United East India Company ( Dutch : Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie , VOC) were sent to the Cape Colony to establish a way-station for ships travelling to the Dutch East Indies , and
3783-449: The MyCiTi service, and expanded it to form Transport for Cape Town (TCT), its transport authority. TCT aims to implement the "vision of one" in which a single integrated ticketing system and timetable will be implemented for bus and rail ( PRASA ) transport. In October 2010 the City of Cape Town put out a call for proposals for artists and designers to create artwork on the glass panels at
3880-588: The Stellenbosch district. The Helderberg area of Greater Cape Town, previously known as the "Hottentots-Holland" area, is mostly residential, but also a wine-producing area east of the Cape Flats, west of the Hottentots Holland mountain range and south of the Helderberg mountain, from which it gets its current name. The Helderberg consists of the previous municipalities of Somerset West, Strand, Gordons Bay and
3977-566: The Stellenbosch granite pluton. The region includes the entire catchment of the Lourens and Sir Lowry's rivers, separated by the Schapenberg hill, and a small part of the catchment of the Eerste River to the west. The Helderberg is ecologically highly diverse, rivaling the Cape Peninsula, and has its own endemic ecoregions and several conservation areas. To the east of the Hottentots Holland mountains
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4074-639: The United States, BRT began in 1977, with Pittsburgh's South Busway , operating on 4.3 miles (6.9 km) of exclusive lanes. Its success led to the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway in 1983, a fuller BRT deployment including a dedicated busway of 9.1 miles (14.6 km), traffic signal preemption , and peak service headway as low as two minutes. After the opening of the West Busway , 5.1 miles (8.2 km) in length in 2000, Pittsburgh's Busway system
4171-728: The West Coast Road; Melkbosstrand; Atlantis , Mamre and Pella. The MyCiTi bus service has also been extended to Cape Town's south-east, to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, called the N2 Express. It uses Bus and Minibus-taxi (BMT) lane on the N2 highway, which permits public transport vehicles to pass general traffic during the morning peak period. The service aims to provide comfortable, convenient, reliable, safe, efficient, car-competitive public transport in Cape Town . The City of Cape Town has built upon
4268-579: The Western Cape province. The official boundaries of the city proper extend between the City Bowl and the Atlantic Seaboard to the east and the Southern Suburbs to the south. The City of Cape Town , the metropolitan municipality that takes its name from the city covers the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area , known as the Cape Metropole, extending beyond the city proper itself to include
4365-456: The area, arrived in 1488 and named it "Cape of Storms" ( Cabo das Tormentas ). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as " Cape of Good Hope " ( Cabo da Boa Esperança ) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to the Indian subcontinent and East Indies . In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1510, at
4462-481: The balcony of Cape Town City Hall , hours after being released on 11 February 1990. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country. The first democratic election , was held four years later, on 27 April 1994. Nobel Square in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront features statues of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners: Albert Luthuli , Desmond Tutu , F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela . Cape Town has undergone significant changes in
4559-424: The best governed province and city in the country. Of South Africa's 257 municipalities, only 38 received a clean financial audit in 2022 from the Auditor-General . Of those, 21 were in the Western Cape. The city's economy has diversified, with growth in sectors such as finance, real estate, and tourism. The establishment of the City Centre Improvement District (CCID) has been particularly successful in revitalizing
4656-419: The buses. Large cities usually have big bus networks. A map showing all bus lines might be incomprehensible, and cause people to wait for low-frequency buses that may not even be running at the time they are needed. By identifying the main bus lines having high-frequency service, with a special brand and separate maps, it is easier to understand the entire network. Public transit apps are more convenient than
4753-595: The capacity and speed of a light rail transit (LRT) or mass rapid transit (MRT) system with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system. The world's first BRT system was the Runcorn Busway in Runcorn New Town, England, which entered service in 1971. As of March 2018 , a total of 166 cities in six continents have implemented BRT systems, accounting for 4,906 km (3,048 mi) of BRT lanes and about 32.2 million passengers every day. The majority of these are in Latin America , where about 19.6 million passengers ride daily, and which has
4850-429: The center of major arterial roads, in 1980 the Curitiba system added a feeder bus network and inter-zone connections, and in 1992 introduced off-board fare collection, enclosed stations, and platform-level boarding. Other systems made further innovations, including platooning (three buses entering and leaving bus stops and traffic signals at once) in Porto Alegre , and passing lanes and express service in São Paulo . In
4947-443: The central part of the Transitway has been converted to light rail transit , due to the downtown section being operated beyond its designed capacity. In 1995, Quito , Ecuador, opened MetrobusQ its first BRT trolleybuses in Quito , using articulated trolleybuses. The TransMilenio in Bogotá , Colombia, opening in 2000, was the first BRT system to combine the best elements of Curitiba's BRT with other BRT advances, and achieved
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#17328584296065044-413: The city center, bringing businesses and people back into the area. This initiative has transformed public spaces such as Greenmarket Square , Company's Garden , and St George's Mall, attracting both locals and tourists. In 2014, Cape Town was named World Design Capital of the Year. Cape Town was voted the best tourist destination in Africa at the 2023 World Travel Awards in Dubai and continues to be
5141-509: The city centre. The legacy of Apartheid means Cape Town remains one of the most racially segregated cities in South Africa. Many Black South Africans continue to live in informal settlements with limited access to basic services such as healthcare, education, and sanitation. The unemployment rate remains high at 23% (though nearly 10 points lower than the nationwide average), particularly among historically disadvantaged groups, and economic opportunities are unevenly distributed. Cape Town faced
5238-399: The colonial possessions of the VOC. Britain captured Cape Town in 1795 , but it was returned to the Dutch by treaty in 1803. British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg when the Batavian Republic allied with Britain's rival, France, during the Napoleonic Wars . Following the conclusion of the war Cape Town was permanently ceded to the United Kingdom in
5335-413: The concept while sketching on the back of an envelope. The town was designed around the transport system, with most residents no more than five minutes walking distance, or 500 yards (460 m), from the Busway. The second BRT system in the world was the Rede Integrada de Transporte (RIT, integrated transportation network ), implemented in Curitiba , Brazil, in 1974. The Rede Integrada de Transporte
5432-414: The deaths of 83 people. Since the 2010s, Cape Town and the wider Western Cape province have seen the rise of a small secessionist movement . Support for parties "which have formally adopted Cape independence" was around 5% in the 2021 municipal elections . Cape Town is located at latitude 33.55° S (approximately the same as Sydney and Buenos Aires and equivalent to Casablanca and Los Angeles in
5529-406: The east and joins the peninsula to the mainland. The Cape Town region is characterised by an extensive coastline, rugged mountain ranges, coastal plains and inland valleys. The extent of Cape Town has varied considerably over time. It originated as a small settlement at the foot of Table Mountain and has grown beyond its city limits as a metropolitan area to encompass the entire Cape Peninsula to
5626-607: The entire bottom of False Bay exposed. During this period an extensive system of dunes was formed on the sandy floor of False Bay. At this time the drainage outlets lay between Rocky Bank Cape Point to the west, and between Rocky Bank and Hangklip Ridge to the east, with the watershed roughly along the line of the contact zone east of Seal Island and Whittle Rock. Cape Town has a warm summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb ), with mild, moderately wet winters and dry, warm summers. Winter, which lasts from June to September, may see large cold fronts entering for limited periods from
5723-634: The entrance of the MyCiTi stations. Bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit ( BRT ), also referred to as a busway or transitway , is a trolleybus , electric bus and public transport bus service system designed to have much more capacity , reliability , and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes roadways that are dedicated to buses , and gives priority to buses at intersections where buses may interact with other traffic; alongside design features to reduce delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses, or paying fares . BRT aims to combine
5820-428: The eroded material overlaying the older rocks, There are two internationally notable landmarks, Table Mountain and Cape Point , at opposite ends of the Peninsula Mountain Chain, with the Cape Flats and False Bay to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The landscape is dominated by sandstone plateaux and ridges, which generally drop steeply at their margins to the surrounding debris slopes, interrupted by
5917-458: The first BRT system in the world was the Runcorn Busway in Runcorn , England. First conceived in the Runcorn New Town Masterplan in 1966, it opened for services in October 1971 and all 22 kilometres (14 mi) were operational by 1980. The central station is at Runcorn Shopping City where buses arrive on dedicated raised busways to two enclosed stations. Arthur Ling , Runcorn Development Corporation's Master Planner, said that he had invented
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#17328584296066014-442: The following features: Bus-only lanes make for faster travel and ensure that buses are not delayed by mixed traffic congestion . A median alignment bus-only keeps buses away from busy curb-side side conflicts, where cars and trucks are parking, standing and turning. Separate rights of way may be used such as the completely elevated Xiamen BRT . Transit malls or 'bus streets' may also be created in city centers. Fare prepayment at
6111-662: The green phase or reducing the red phase in the required direction compared to the normal sequence. Prohibiting turns may be the most important measure for moving buses through intersections. The station platforms for BRT systems should be level with the bus floor for quick and easy boarding, making it fully accessible for wheelchairs, disabled passengers and baby strollers, with minimal delays. High-level platforms for high-floored buses makes it difficult to have stops outside dedicated platforms, or to have conventional buses stop at high-level platforms, so these BRT stops are distinct from street-level bus stops. Similar to rail vehicles, there
6208-427: The highest capacity and highest speed BRT system in the world. In January 2004 the first BRT in Southeast Asia, TransJakarta , opened in Jakarta , Indonesia. As of 2015 , at 210 kilometres (130 mi), it is the longest BRT system in the world. Africa's first BRT system was opened in Lagos , Nigeria, in March 2008 but is considered a light BRT system by many people. Johannesburg , South Africa, BRT Rea Vaya ,
6305-402: The highest light rail system." Performance data of 84 systems show More topical are these BRT data After the first BRT system opened in 1971, cities were slow to adopt BRT because they believed that the capacity of BRT was limited to about 12,000 passengers per hour traveling in a given direction during peak demand. While this is a capacity rarely needed in the US (12,000 is more typical as
6402-486: The largest city in southern Africa. The metropolitan area has a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean , which includes False Bay, and extends to the Hottentots Holland mountains to the east. The Table Mountain National Park is within the city boundaries and there are several other nature reserves and marine-protected areas within, and adjacent to, the city, protecting the diverse terrestrial and marine natural environment. The earliest known remnants of human occupation in
6499-407: The legislative capital of the Union, and later of the Republic of South Africa . By the time of the 1936 census , Johannesburg had overtaken Cape Town as the largest city in the country. In 1945 the expansion of the Cape Town foreshore was completed adding an additional 194 ha (480 acres) to the City Bowl area to the city centre. Prior to the mid-twentieth century, Cape Town was one of
6596-423: The most cities with BRT systems, with 54, led by Brazil with 21 cities. The Latin American countries with the most daily ridership are Brazil (10.7 million), Colombia (3.0 million), and Mexico (2.5 million). In the other regions, China (4.3 million) and Iran (2.1 million) stand out. Currently, TransJakarta is the largest BRT network in the world, with about 251.2 kilometres (156.1 mi) of corridors connecting
6693-400: The most important tourist destination in the country. Cape Town has been named the best travel city in the world every year since 2013 in the Telegraph Travel Awards. The legacy of apartheid's spatial planning is still evident, with significant disparities between affluent areas and impoverished townships . 60% of the city's population live in townships and informal settlements far from
6790-638: The most racially integrated cities in South Africa. In the 1948 national elections , the National Party won on a platform of apartheid (racial segregation) under the slogan of " swart gevaar " (Afrikaans for "black danger"). This led to the erosion and eventual abolition of the Cape's multiracial franchise . In 1950, the apartheid government first introduced the Group Areas Act , which classified and segregated urban areas according to race. Formerly multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of residents deemed unlawful by apartheid legislation, or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town
6887-430: The mountain. To the immediate south of the city, the Cape Peninsula is a scenic mountainous spine jutting 40 km (25 mi) southward into the Atlantic Ocean and terminating at Cape Point . There are over 70 peaks above 300 m (980 ft) within Cape Town's official metropolitan limits . Many of the city's suburbs lie on the large plain called the Cape Flats , which extends over 50 km (30 mi) to
6984-399: The news of the protests against Bantu Education by organising gatherings and marches of their own. A number of school buildings were burnt down and the protest action was met with forceful resistance from the police. Cape Town has been home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement . In Table Bay , 10 km (6 mi) from the city is Robben Island . This penitentiary island was
7081-432: The north to Cape Point in the south, with an area of about 470 km (180 sq mi), and it displays more topographical variety than other similar sized areas in southern Africa, and consequently spectacular scenery. There are diverse low-nutrient soils, large rocky outcrops, scree slopes, a mainly rocky coastline with embayed beaches, and considerable local variation in climatic conditions. The sedimentary rocks of
7178-498: The northern hemisphere) and longitude 18.25° E. Table Mountain , with its near vertical cliffs and flat-topped summit over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high, and with Devil's Peak and Lion's Head on either side, together form a dramatic mountainous backdrop enclosing the central area of Cape Town, the so-called City Bowl . A thin strip of cloud, known colloquially as the "tablecloth" ("Karos" in Afrikaans ), sometimes forms on top of
7275-450: The once continuous Table Mountain Group sandstone cover from over the Cape Flats and False Bay, and leaving high residual mountain ridges. At times the sea covered the Cape Flats and Noordhoek valley and the Cape Peninsula was then a group of islands. During glacial periods the sea level dropped to expose the bottom of False Bay to weathering and erosion, with the last major regression leaving
7372-469: The push for self-governance in the Cape. With expansion came calls for greater independence from the UK, with the Cape attaining its own parliament (1854) and a locally accountable Prime Minister (1872). Suffrage was established according to the non-racial Cape Qualified Franchise . During the 1850s and 1860s, additional plant species were introduced from Australia by the British authorities. Notably rooikrans
7469-574: The region were found at Peers Cave in Fish Hoek and have been dated to between 15,000 and 12,000 years old. Various Khoikhoi groups notably the Gorinaiqua lived on these lands for thousands of years. Khoikhoi communities were some of the wealthiest groups in Africa and their lands and cattles would go on to build colonial Cape Town and the rest of South Africa. Bartolomeu Dias . Dias, the first European to reach
7566-858: The right side of the street. Groups of criteria form the BRT Standard 2016, which is updated by the Technical Committee of the BRT Standard. High-capacity vehicles such as articulated or even bi-articulated buses may be used, typically with multiple doors for fast entry and exit. Double-decker buses or guided buses may also be used. Advanced powertrain control may be used for a smoother ride. Bottleneck BRT stations typically provide loading areas for simultaneous boarding and alighting of buses through multiple doors coordinated via displays and loudspeakers. An example of high-quality stations include those used on TransMilenio in Bogotá since December 2000,
7663-771: The schedules and live arrival times and stations for buses that feed the BRT, like the SITP (Sistema Integrado de Transporte Público or Public Transit Integrated System) in Bogotá . A special issue arises in the use of buses in metro transit structures. Since the areas where the demand for an exclusive bus right-of-way are apt to be in dense downtown areas where an above-ground structure may be unacceptable on historic, logistic, or environmental grounds, use of BRT in tunnels may not be avoidable. Since buses are usually powered by internal combustion engines , bus metros raise ventilation issues similar to those of motor vehicle tunnels. Powerful fans typically exchange air through ventilation shafts to
7760-479: The site of a maximum security prison where many famous apartheird-era political prisoners served long prison sentences. Famous prisoners include activist, lawyer and future president Nelson Mandela who served 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment on the island, as well as two other future presidents, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma . In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech since his imprisonment, from
7857-610: The south, the Cape Flats , the Helderberg basin and part of the Steenbras catchment area to the east, and the Tygerberg hills, Blouberg and other areas to the north. Robben Island in Table Bay is also part of Cape Town. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and False Bay to the south. To the north and east, the extent is demarcated by boundaries of neighbouring municipalities within
7954-492: The station, instead of on board the bus, eliminates the delay caused by passengers paying on board. Fare machines at stations also allow riders to purchase multi-ride stored-value cards and have multiple payment options. Prepayment also allows riders to board at all doors, further speeding up stops. Prohibiting turns for traffic across the bus lane significantly reduces delays to the buses. Bus priority will often be provided at signalized intersections to reduce delays by extending
8051-404: The subway, and with the rear axle driven by a conventional diesel powertrain on freeways and streets. Boston is using a similar approach, after initially using trolleybuses pending delivery of the dual-mode vehicles that was completed in 2005. In 2004, Seattle replaced its "Transit Tunnel" fleet with diesel-electric hybrid buses, which operate similarly to hybrid cars outside the tunnel and in
8148-417: The surface; these are usually as remote as possible from occupied areas, to minimize the effects of noise and concentrated pollution. A straightforward way to reduce air quality problems is to use internal combustion engines with lower emissions. The 2008 Euro V European emission standards set a limit on carbon monoxide from heavy-duty diesel engines of 1.5 g/kWh, one third of the 1992 Euro I standard. As
8245-428: The theoretical maximum throughput measured in passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD) for a single traffic lane is some 150,000 passengers per hour (250 passengers per vehicle, one vehicle every 6 seconds). In real world conditions BRT Rio (de Janeiro, BRS Presidente Vargas) with 65.000 PPHPD holds the record, TransMilenio Bogotá and Metrobus Istanbul perform 49,000 – 45,000 PPHPD, most other busy systems operating in
8342-726: The time between buses on the same route) range from 3 mins to 20 mins in peak times to 60 minutes during quiet off-peak periods. In November 2015 approximately 60,000 daily passenger journeys were made on the MyCiTi service, on 36 routes, using 42 bus stations and more than 600 bus stops, in about 223 peak buses. The most recent expansion of MyCiTi services occurred in October 2018, when it added 120 000 scheduled kilometre through artificial troops on existing routes and some new routes. It also added more direct services which don't require transfers between different routes, as well as additional bus stops. MyCiTi began operations in May 2010, shortly before
8439-499: The use of dual buses, with doors on the left side of the bus that are located at the height of high-level platforms, and doors on the right side that are located at curb height. These buses can use the main line with its exclusive lanes and high level platforms, located on the center of the street and thus, boarding and leaving passengers on the left side. These buses can exit the main line and use normal lanes that share with other vehicles and stop at regular stations located on sidewalks on
8536-513: The way to Llandudno and Hout Bay . The service uses high floor articulated and standard size buses in dedicated busways, low floor articulated and standard size buses on the N2 Express service, and smaller 9m Optare buses in suburban and inner city areas. It offers universal access through level boarding and numerous other measures, and requires cashless fare payment using the EMV compliant smart card system, called myconnect. Headway of services (i.e.
8633-474: The west coastline of the City. By 2015 MyCiTi provided a rapid bus service between Blouberg / Table View , Atlantis , Melkbosstrand , Dunoon , Milnerton , Paarden Eiland , Century City , Khayelitsha , Mitchells Plain and Cape Town Central. It also provided feeder services in most of the above areas as well as in Salt River , Walmer Estate , and all suburbs of the City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard all
8730-525: The west side of False Bay and the Cape Flats. On the east side are the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland mountains. The three main rock formations are the late- Precambrian Malmebury group (sedimentary and metamorphic rock), the Cape Granite suit, comprising the huge Peninsula, Kuilsrivier-Helderberg, and Stellenbosch batholiths, that were intruded into the Malmesbury Group about 630 million years ago, and
8827-479: The years since Apartheid. Cape Town has experienced economic growth and development in the post-apartheid era. The city has become a major economic hub in South Africa, attracting international investment and tourism. The Democratic Alliance (DA), a liberal political party which came to power in Cape Town in 2006, has been credited with improving bureaucratic efficiency, public safety and fostering economic development. Opinion polls show that South Africans see it as
8924-438: Was developed by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) to score BRT corridors, producing a list of rated BRT corridors meeting the minimum definition of BRT. The highest rated systems received a "gold" ranking. The latest edition of the standard was published in 2016. Other metrics used to evaluate BRT performance include: Based on this data, the minimum headway and maximum current vehicle capacities,
9021-490: Was inspired by the previous transport system of the National Urban Transport Company of Peru (In Spanish: ENATRU ), which only had quick access on Lima downtown , but it would not be considered BRT itself. Many of the elements that have become associated with BRT were innovations first suggested by Carlos Ceneviva, within the team of Curitiba Mayor Jaime Lerner . Initially just dedicated bus lanes in
9118-600: Was introduced to stabilise the sand of the Cape Flats to allow for a road connecting the peninsula with the rest of the African continent and eucalyptus was used to drain marshes. In 1859 the first railway line was built by the Cape Government Railways and a system of railways rapidly expanded in the 1870s. The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1867, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted
9215-567: Was named the best place in the world to visit by The New York Times , and was similarly ranked number one by The Daily Telegraph in both 2016 and 2023. Located on the shore of Table Bay , the City Bowl area of Cape Town is the oldest urban area in the Western Cape , with a significant cultural heritage. It was founded by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa , India , and
9312-612: Was the first true BRT in Africa, in August 2009, carrying 16,000 daily passengers. Rea Vaya and MIO (BRT in Cali , Colombia, opened 2009) were the first two systems to combine full BRT with some services that also operated in mixed traffic, then joined the BRT trunk infrastructure. In 2017 Marrakesh , Morocco, opened its first BRT Marrakesh trolleybus system (BHNS De Marrakesh) trolleybuses Corridors of 8 km (5.0 mi), of which 3 km (1.9 mi) of overhead wiring for operation as trolleybus. BRT systems normally include most of
9409-486: Was the suburb of District Six . After it was declared a whites-only area in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed. Many of these residents were relocated to the Cape Flats . The earliest of the Cape Flats forced removals saw the expulsion of Black South Africans to the Langa , Cape Town's first and oldest township, in line with the 1923 Native Urban Areas Act . Under apartheid,
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