June 7, 2007
By Ndaba Dlamini
FANS travelling to Saturday's rugby game between South Africa and Manu Samoa are advised to use park-and-ride facilities to avoid congestion on the roads leading to Ellis Park Stadium.
"The park-and-ride project is part of the City of Johannesburg's transportation plan leading up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup™," says Yolisa Mashilwane, the director of management support in the City's transport department. "We are testing different sites that can be used by fans travelling to soccer and rugby matches to park and then use shuttle services to stadiums."
The park-and-ride service on Saturday, 9 June follows the successful introduction of the project during the Soweto Derby between soccer giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates on 28 April. For that match, Nasrec was used as a park-and-ride site.
"The idea is to limit the use of private cars and reduce congestion on the roads and parking areas around stadiums where major sporting events will be taking place. Fans [will park] their cars in chosen park-and-ride areas, board buses to the events and use the same mode of transport back to where they parked their cars after the match," Mashilwane explains.
Costs
Fans travelling to the Saturday game can park their cars at either the University of the Witwatersrand West Campus, Wemmer Pan or Bezuidenhout Park for R20 a vehicle, or at Montecasino for R40 a vehicle. Spectators will then be transported to and from Ellis Park Stadium at no additional cost.
Those using the Montecasino park-and-ride will be treated to complementary drinks at the Cobblestone Pub, she says.
"People parking at Wits University can use Enoch Sontonga Avenue to access parking, Turf Road entrance into Wemmer Pan, Marcia Street into Bezuidenhout Park and the William Nicol Drive entrance into Montecasino. Fans can rest assured that their cars will be safe as tight security will be available at the sites."
Buses will leave West Campus, Wemmer Pan and Bezuidenhout Park from 10am, and there will be buses after every 30 minutes until 3pm. Fans can then catch buses from the stadium back to these park-and-ride facilities between 11am and 6.30pm. Buses will start leaving from Montecasino at 12 noon, with return buses at 5.15pm only.
Mashilwane says the park-and-ride project is ongoing and there is still a lot to be done to finalise a plan that can be fully utilised for the 2010 soccer tournament.
"There are 15 park-and-ride facilities that we have identified so far but there is still a long way to go before we come up with a concrete plan. But we hope the project will be a success."
Tickets to the Montecasino park-and-ride are available at Computicket and tickets to Wemmer Pan, Wits West Campus and Bezuidenhout Park are available are the respective park-and-ride venues.
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