Cape Town’s Cry: These Are Our Streets!

Posted: 01 May 2004

Related to: Promoting Cycling in Africa, Planning & Advocacy for Cycling & Walking, South Africa
Contributed by: Paul White, ITDP

Cape Town, South Africa held its second Car Free Day on February 22, drawing thousands of pedestrians and cyclists into six traffic-free lanes along Klipfontein Road.

Transport Minister Tasneem Essop said a similar event in 2003 had proved so popular that her department, with the City of Cape Town, decided to stage another.

“You have a whole day of freedom. There is a group of ladies here who only started cycling in November. Some of them have never been on a bicycle before,” she said.

Photo: New cyclists enjoy Cape Town’s Car-Free streets

On what is normally a high density vehicle corridor, adults sat around small tables playing chess, families biked along and waved to their neighbors, children on bikes, skateboards and rollerblades demonstrated their skills and toddlers were pushed along in strollers by their parents. The air was festive, with Essop leading the crowd in shouting, “Viva Africa, Viva!  Viva Cape Town, Viva! Viva Klipfontein Road, Viva! These are our streets!”

Ms. Essop has become a powerful advocate for non-motorized transport since early 2003. She traveled to Paris with her provincial colleagues, staff from ITDP and the Cape Town-based Bicycling Empowerment Network to participate in the Velo City Conference in September. Combined with the visit of former Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa during ITDP’s Building a New City tour in early 2003, the visit has set Ms. Essop and the Province on a course towards redefining the transport strategy for Cape Town.

This political commitment to promote sustainable transport and improve traffic safety comes at a crucial time. Cape Town’s cycling fatality rate recently doubled. From 1997 to 2001 12 to 18 cyclists died per year and in 2002, 45 cyclists died in Cape Town traffic ­ much higher than cyclist fatality rates in cities such as New York.

Cape Town’s new five-year mobility plan includes a Bus Rapid Transit corridor on Klipfontein Road, improved facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and public awareness events such as the Car-Free Day.