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City of Cape Town cutting routes on its Dial-a-Ride service

City of Cape Town cutting routes on its Dial-a-Ride service

Eyewitness News3 days ago
CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town has announced that it is cutting routes on its Dial-a-Ride service.
City bosses said the service catered to 2,000 ad hoc users and at least 200 eligible commuters with disabilities.
From September, the metro-subsidised transport service will only commute users between home and work.
Social visits, hospital visits, and trips to school will no longer be permitted.
The municipality said it's running at a loss operating the service at a cost of R40 million a year.
MMC for Urban Mobility Rob Quintas added that from September, only eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments would be able to use the service.
"Where the MyCiti operates, that is a universally accessible system, so between the available public transport options as well as the e-hailing platforms, there are supplementary ways of moving persons with disabilities around that were not an option before."
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Cape Town's vulnerable residents face transport crisis as Dial-a-Ride service is scaled back
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Users have expressed concern over changes to Cape Town's Dial-a-Ride service amid budget constraints. Image: Supplied A controversial decision by the City of Cape Town to scale back its Dial-a-Ride service from September 8 2025, has sparked outrage and a public petition. Critics say that the move will strip thousands of the city's most vulnerable residents of their only safe and reliable access to essential services. For many people with disabilities, it's deemed a necessity, not just a convenience, and would directly hit living standards and quality of life for its users. According to the Dial-a-Ride site, the service transports 350 regular users and 2,270 ad-hoc passengers, providing a dedicated kerb-to-kerb transport option for people with disabilities who are unable to use mainstream public transport. The service has been in operation since the late 1990s, serving individuals, including the mentally disabled, visually impaired, and infirm, enabling their access to healthcare, places of worship, work, education, and community activities. Under the impending changes, the service will be severely limited to only wheelchair-bound individuals and those with severe walking impairments, and exclusively for transport to and from work. The reduction is expected to affect more than 1,000 vulnerable individuals. The City attributes its decision to an "unsustainable" R12 million annual shortfall. However, this response was met with strong condemnation. Roscoe Palm, a GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor, dismissed the R12 million figure as a "rounding error" within a municipal budget exceeding R70 billion. Palm has called on Councillor Rob Quintas, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, to "immediately find the R12 million needed to keep Dial-a-Ride accessible for all its current users, and also to expand the service" as the city's transport infrastructure grows. The controversy is further exacerbated by the fact that just last year, Quintas had publicly celebrated the programme's expansion under a new six-year, R28.1 million-per-year contract with HG Travelling Services. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading At the time, Quintas stated that this new contract was intended to allow for the expansion of the service to accommodate more eligible users as additional budget became available. The GOOD Party views the current decision as a "reversal" and "starkly at odds with the City's oft-stated values of Opportunity, Care, Accessibility, and Safety". In response to the impending cuts, a petition titled "Stop the Cancellation of Dial-a-Ride in Cape Town" has been launched on by The Western Cape Network on Disability. The petition highlights that the service is crucial for users to access work for their livelihoods, enables children to attend school, ensures vital hospital visits for medication and check-ups, and allows participation in recreational and community life. It asserts that losing Dial-a-Ride would be "catastrophic," potentially leading to job losses, educational setbacks for children, and compromised health for many in the Western Cape. "The impact of losing Dial-a-Ride is catastrophic. Without this service, many in the Western Cape will lose their jobs due to a lack of transportation, exacerbating financial hardship and increasing unemployment rates. It jeopardises the education of children who will struggle to attend school, impacting future generations. Additionally, it risks our health by making it difficult to access medical care," the petition reads. At the time of publishing, 1,697 people have signed the petition. The petition directly appeals to Quintas, urging the City to reconsider its decision. It proposes exploring alternatives such as increased funding, better route planning, and community involvement in decision-making processes to enhance and expand the service. IOL

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