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IOL News
3 days ago
- General
- IOL News
Blind commuters left in the lurch as Cape Town's Dial-a-Ride service restricts access
Dial-a-Ride has announced changes to their services as of September 8. Image: Supplied The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating two complaints against the City of Cape Town's Dial-a-Ride service, following its announcement to exclusively transport eligible wheelchair users, excluding the blind community. Blind commuters, many of whom work in and around the City, have been given until September 8 to find alternative transport to their workplaces, as the Dial-a-Ride service said it was oversubscribed and suffering severe capacity challenges with its R28.2 million annual budget being insufficient for the current R40 million operating costs. They announced that effective September 8, the service will exclusively transport eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments between Monday to Friday during peak periods, with minimal weekend and public holiday services for work-related travel. The trips will be strictly between work and home and not recreational activities. The Western Cape Network on Disability has since called on the City to halt their restrictions, engage with role players, and commit to implementing a fully accessible, integrated public transport system in line with the Constitution. The SAHRC on Tuesday confirmed they received complaints against the City's Dial-a-Ride service. 'To confirm that the WCPO (Western Cape Provincial Office) has received two complaints in this regard. 'To confirm that there are matters currently under investigation as lodged against Dial-a-Ride.' Board chairperson of the Western Cape Network on Disability, Michelle Botha, said the suspension of services to the blind was an infringement of human rights, and placed them in a position of vulnerability. 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 ✕ 'Under the new criteria, the service will only transport certain wheelchair users and people with severe walking impairments, and only between home and work during peak hours,' she said. 'All trips to education, healthcare, recreation, community activities, sport, and other essential services will be cut. Blind and visually impaired users will be excluded entirely. 'This decision is not simply a budgetary adjustment. It is a denial of the constitutional right to equality, dignity, and full participation in society. For many disabled people, DaR (Dial-a-Ride) is the only form of accessible transport available. The claim that there are viable alternatives such as MyCiTi buses, specialist e-hailing, or NGO transport is misleading. 'MyCiTi does not serve all areas, its infrastructure is not fully accessible, and hardware often fails. Golden Arrow buses remain inaccessible despite legislation. Specialist e-hailing is prohibitively expensive for most, and may still refuse users with assistance dogs despite their official policy. 'NGO transport is already overstretched, despite the fact that providing public transport is not the mandate of disability organisations.' Amanda Matthee has been using Dial-a-Ride for over 20 years and is disappointed by the City's decision to exclude the blind from transportation services. Image: Supplied
IOL News
5 days ago
- IOL News
Dial-a-Ride to limit eligibility
STRAIN: Abram Lintnaar of Atlantis is one of the affected commuters The City of Cape Town's Dial-a- Ride (DaR) said their services are oversubscribed and that they are experiencing severe capacity challenges with its R28.2 million annual budget being insufficient for the current R40 million operating costs. This has been met with concern by its users. The City announced that effective 8 September 2025, the DaR service will exclusively transport eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments. They detailed that services will be available Monday to Friday during peak periods, with minimal weekend and public holiday services for work-related travel and that trips will be strictly between work and home and not for recreational activities or otherwise. In a statement, the City explained: 'Over the past two decades,... the service has expanded to include commuter trips to educational, medical, recreational facilities, shopping centres, and private home visits and the user base grew to include users with other special needs. 'Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the DaR service needs to be realigned with its core mandate: namely to transport eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments, and to limit these trips between the users' homes and places of work.' Last year, the City stopped the service to Atlantis and Abram Lintnaar, 51, has had to make his own way to his workplace at the Cape Town Society for the Blind. He said: "This is just discrimination, I have approached the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the past about this matter. 'I struggle to get to work and come home, I have to pay people to take me to a bus stop." The SAHRC earlier said they would be investigating the claims and concerns raised by Lintnaar.
IOL News
5 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Cape Town's Dial-a-Ride service faces budget cuts, limiting transport for disabled users
Users have expressed concern over changes to Cape Town's Dial-a-Ride service amid budget constraints. Image: Supplied The City of Cape Town said its Dial-a-Ride service is oversubscribed as they experience capacity challenges, with the R28.2 million annual budget being insufficient for the current R40 million operating costs. This has been met with concern by users. The City announced that effective September 8, the service will exclusively transport eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments, strictly between work and home. "Over the past two decades, the service has expanded to include commuter trips to educational, medical, recreational facilities, shopping centres, and private home visits and the user base grew to include users with other special needs. "Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the DaR (Dial-a-Ride) service needs to be realigned with its core mandate: namely to transport eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments, and to limit these trips between the users' homes and places of work,' the City said. It added that due to a current budget deficit amounting to nearly R1 million a month and the operational costs, which is set to continue to increase, they are unable to sustain the service over the longer term without implementing changes. 'The DaR service is over-subscribed due to the expansion of the service beyond its core mandate and the service is experiencing severe capacity challenges where the demand exceeds the available resources,' they City said. 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 Abram Lintnaar from Atlantis is among the commuters affected by changes to the Dial-a-Ride service. Image: Supplied 'The annual budget for the service is R28.2 million, while the annual operating costs amount to R40 million currently.' They also said as of September 8, the service will transport eligible wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments during peak periods, from Monday to Friday, with minimal services on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays for those who need to go to work 'The City is busy engaging users, user groups, and stakeholders to inform them of the amended eligibility criteria, requirements to qualify, and amended service offering." A year ago, the City announced its decision to discontinue the services to Altantis and the issue was raised with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) by a commuter. Abram Lintnaar, 51, from Atlantis, used the service daily to get to his workplace at the Cape Town Society for the Blind and told the Cape Argus that its changes has added financial strain.
