Cape Town spends R180m on Volvos

He said the company would provide ancillary services such as training and maintenance.

The N2 Express routes were expected to start running by the end of the year, linking Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain with the city centre.

Herron said the buses on these routes would be able to carry more passengers than those being used in town.

He said a tender for 66 buses was being evaluated for other routes scheduled for launch this year and next year, with destinations including the Atlantic Seaboard, Melkbosstrand, Atlantis, Dunoon and Century City.

This tender was likely to be awarded next month.

The city's expansion of MyCiti bus routes has been challenged in court by Golden Arrow Bus Services (Gabs).

Case dismissed

Last month, the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application by Gabs to have the MyCiti bus service expansion halted in Cape Town.

Gabs had wanted to compel the city to enter into a mediation and arbitration process to resolve disputes relating to the expansion of certain routes in the city.

It also wanted to prevent the city from negotiating and concluding a 12-year-contract to operate MyCiti buses in extended areas.

The high court found that compelling the Cape Town council to go through such a process would make it impossible for it to fulfil its mandate to integrate services into an overall public transport system.

According to the National Land Transport Act, the city was obliged to negotiate, but not to agree to something.

The application was dismissed with costs.

On Monday (20 May), Gabs announced it had turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal to challenge the high court's decision.

"After careful deliberation of the judgment, Gabs has been advised that reasonable grounds exist for another court to reach a different decision on critical issues," Gabs general manager Francois Meyer said in a statement.

He said it had submitted an application for leave to appeal against the judgment.

"Gabs is concerned about the precedent that will be set in the future expansion of the MyCiti services if the judgment handed down is upheld," said Meyer.

Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge