[imagesource:here]

I can only think of one period during which Cape Town’s traffic was a breeze.

Obviously, I’m talking about the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in the city, where almost everyone (who could) was working from home.

There’s a lesson in that in terms of easing congestion: get more people to work from home, and fewer people to travel to work at the same time every day.

The City of Cape Town is planning something along those lines for reducing traffic in the city via the proposed changes put forth in the new draft Integrated Development Plans (IDP).

The IDP encompasses a municipality’s goals and objectives for economic and social development, per BusinessTech.

The changes proposed include asking employers to consider flexible working hours, as well as making roads wider while fixing others.

The city acknowledges that time is money, which means that spending time on the road when a worker could be behind their computer, for example, is a big loss to the economy.

So the plan is to improve public transport access and infrastructure through a series of interventions that could ease road congestion.

Some of the targeted road capacity expansions will include:

• Broadway Boulevard in Somerset West;
• Jip de Jager Drive in Bellville;
• The upgrade of Saxdowns and Amandel roads in the Kuils River area;
• The city will also pursue the completion of the Foreshore freeways.

Ah yes, that bridge on the Foreshore freeway.

Another intervention is to introduce modern technologies, like vehicle detection systems and traffic signal controllers, which will hopefully improve how vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists move through the city.

A relatively successful public transport alternative, the MyCiTi bus network, is already in place (bar some hiccups).

Listen to Pippa Hudson interviewing the Mayoral Committee Member for Transport at the City of Cape Town, Roberto Quintas, about MyCiTi:

The IDP is currently open for public comment, so have your say if you must.

[source:businesstech&capetalk]