By: Marie Riou
The City of Cape Town invited last Saturday all people to bring their bicycle and helmet and enjoy the roads in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, as part of the Transport Department’s ongoing campaign to promote non-motorised transport in and around Cape Town.
As the adverse effects of global warming take effect on earth’s ecosystems, cycling and walking are among the best ways to take the heat off the planet and put it on planners and politicians instead. Now’s the time to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the private car.
Cycling and walking (otherwise known as ‘non-motorised transport’ have very little negative impact on the climate or on air quality and have a positive effect on the quality of urban spaces, traffic congestion and public health.
The City is committed to putting people first when it comes to transport opportunities, and to making Cape Town a better place in which to cycle and walk. Cyclists had the right to use any public road in Cape Town, as bicycles are regarded as vehicles by South African law.
The KhayePlain fun ride, which was an easy 10 km or so, started at AZ Berman Primary School off AZ Berman Drive (opposite the Promenade Shopping Complex) in Mitchells Plain at 10:00 and ended at the Khayelitsha Cricket Oval off Walter Sisulu Drive, Khayelitsha, at 13:00.