The investment in the roll-out of the CCTV cameras at nine of the City’s minibus-taxi ranks amounts to R11,4 million.

‘We’ll be installing 159 CCTV cameras at nine minibus-taxi ranks. In fact, 54 CCTV cameras have already been installed at the public transport facilities in Wynberg, Claremont, and the Cape Town Station Deck. The CCTV camera project will boost the safety of our commuters and operators in the various communities where the PTIs and the MyCiTi stations are located. The cameras will also provide a technological advantage for safety and law enforcement purposes,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Alderman Felicity Purchase.

The footage from the cameras will be viewed in real time, as well as once it has been recorded. The data that is captured will be made available as needed for prosecution purposes.

Apart from the safety aspect, the cameras also boast technology that will provide the Transport Directorate with information about the lengths of queues and waiting times at the PTIs with lane-designated destinations, commuter counting, and Internet-of-Things (IOT) sensors to provide traffic data.

The number of CCTV cameras to be installed at each PTI is determined by the number of commuters and operators making use of the facility as well as the physical layout.

The installation of cameras has been completed at the following PTIs:

• Claremont: 27 cameras
• Cape Town Station Deck: 13 cameras
• Wynberg: 14 cameras

Installation is currently under way at the PTIs in Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Bellville and is scheduled to be completed by 30 June 2019.

Once completed there will be:

• 35 CCTV cameras at the Bellville PTI
• 16 CCTV cameras at the Mitchells Plain Main PTI
• 8 CCTV cameras at the Mitchells Plain SW1
• 14 CCTV cameras at the Mitchells Plain SW2
• 19 CCTV cameras at the Joe Gqabi long-distance bus terminus
• 13 CCTV cameras at the Kuwait PTI

‘We’re also testing a solution where the cameras can be used to count the number of passengers that are boarding a minibus-taxi. This is very important to prevent overloading and will assist to improve the safety of commuters, of drivers and of other road users. Thus, this technology could be used to prevent an overloaded taxi from leaving a PTI,’ said Alderman Purchase.

There are currently 79 PTIs across the city.

‘Given that the roll-out of the CCTV camera project is subject to budget availability, the implementation is happening incrementally. Next on the list of PTIs to benefit from this project are those in Lentegeur, Nyanga, Masiphumelele, Hout Bay, Nyanga and Retreat. These are all scheduled to happen in the next financial year, starting on 1 July 2019,’ said Alderman Purchase. 

Apart from the CCTV cameras, the roll-out of digital technologies at the PTIs includes the installation of public Wi-Fi, Internet-of-Things Sensors (IOT) and access control.

The public Wi-Fi provides the City with data about the movement of commuters at the PTIs.

‘By learning more about how people move in and around PTIs and how they are making use of these facilities we can plan better future upgrades and redesigns of the PTIs. Also, it enables us to get an indication of the number of commuters making use of buses, minibus-taxis, and passenger rail. Access control provides us with data about the number of vehicles that are making use of the PTI,’ said Alderman Purchase.

The data mentioned above will be used to:

• Ensure that environmental factors do not affect commuters’ health negatively
• Monitor the number of commuters and mode of transport at PTIs and to detect changes in commuter behaviour
• Monitor traffic conditions around PTIs
• Promote commuter safety
• Provide operational information about commuter and public transport for planning and regulatory purposes

‘We’re are currently connecting the on-site CCTV cameras to the Transport Management Centre (TMC) via optic fibre to enable 24/7 monitoring of these cameras. Thus, when the TMC detects an incident at or nearby a PTI they can immediately request for the appropriate response services via the various law enforcement agencies,’ said Alderman Purchase.

The cameras are all high resolution Static and Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ). Where access control is specified, we are also installing license plate recognition cameras along with the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers which will read the RFID-enabled rank tokens, at the booms, as part of the access control solution.

Furthermore, the City is investing approximately R5 million on the roll-out of CCTV cameras at MyCiTi stations, stops, and routes. 

Inclusive of the roll-out is the installation of CCTV cameras at the following MyCiTi stations: Thibault Square; Adderley Street: Stadium; Granger Bay; Gardens; Queens Beach and Mitchells Plain.

Cameras will also be installed along the MyCiTi N2 Express route serving Khayelitsha along Mew Way and Mfundisweni Street, Lookout Hill, Spine and Ntlazane Roads and Govan Mbeki Road up to Kuyasa.

End