Tag Archives: park-and-ride

Cape Town scores on first two World Cup matches

The City of Cape Town has described the hosting of the first two World Cup matches at Cape Town Stadium as “without any major hitches”, and has expressed its satisfaction with the overall smooth running of the events, and the “good jol” enjoyed by the fans.

Mondays’ match between Italy and Paraguay had all the potential to go off the skids, with pouring rain, hail and freezing cold weather before and during the match, as well as a strike by the staff of Stallion Security prior to the start of the match.  The soccer fans dressed warmly, and barely complained about the weather on Twitter, despite estimates that the temperatures had dropped to below zero inside the Stadium.  They were barely aware that a strike had been threatened, and that the police had brought in SA Police Services (SAPS) students, with World Cup volunteers also helping in providing security services.

The match on Monday was attended by 62869 spectators, 17670 of them walking along the fan walk to the stadium, and 18 500 walking back to the city centre.   The new MyCiTi shuttle to the Stadium was used by 15000 spectators, and 10 000 used it to get back to the city Civic Centre.   The train service was used by 15000 fans.   The park-and-ride service at Century City and at UCT were the two most highly used such facilities.   A significant number of fans used their cars to get into the city, probably due to the weather, and this caused a big traffic gridlock on roads into the city, especially on the Eastern Boulevard.  The adverse weather also led to reduced attendance at the five Fan Fest areas.

Last Friday’s match between France and Uruguay attracted 61400 spectators.   The rail service was used by 20000 spectators, 11000 used the MyCiTi shuttle bus service and 30000 walked the Fan Mile to get to the Stadium.   The Fan Park on the Grand Parade had to be closed, with 42 000 visitors throughout the day. It is estimated that 250 000 persons visited the city center, and 100 000 the V&A Waterfront on that day. 

The City of Cape Town has requested that soccer fans make their way to the Stadium as early as they can (gates open 3,5 hours prior to the start of a match) and to travel light, to reduce the security search time.  Information can be found on the City’s website www.capetown.gov.za or by calling tel. 0800 65 64 63.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Cape Town Stadium: a local’s taste of the World Cup

Sellecca Lang is a journalist at the Atlantic Sun in Cape Town, and wrote about her experiences in attending the soccer matches at the Cape Town Stadium a week ago in this week’s issue of the free local newspaper, in a story entitled “A tourist in my own town for the fourth trial”.  Her experiences reflect what Cape Town soccer fans, who were lucky enough to obtain tickets, can expect when the world’s largest sporting event is hosted from 11 June – 11 July.  

Sellecca and her group of 14 friends left their cars at GrandWest casino, one of 22 park-and-ride facilities designated for the World Cup in Cape Town.   Three of her friends were late, and therefore they missed the train to the city center.   It took another one and a half hours for the next train to arrive, which meant that she and her party missed the opening ceremony, during which the Nigerian national anthem would not play (it had to be sung by one of the players, to save the situation).

The party arrived at the stadium with the shuttle service between the station and the stadium, and she writes that she spotted two grammatical errors in the notice in the shuttle.  

Settled in at the stadium, she writes that the noise of the vuvuzelas was tolerable, but what was not was the buzzing sound of the speakers, which she heard for most of the event, describing it as “scratchy-buzzing backtrack”, and vowing to bring ear-muffs to the World Cup matches to block out the irritating sound.

At the break between the two matches the children in Sellecca’s party wanted to have something to eat at the nearby McDonald’s.  When they wanted to return to the Stadium, they were not allowed back in, as there is no pass.  “Once you are out, you are out”, she was told.   FIFA is very strict about security, and this is one of their rules at the World Cup stadiums.    Sellecca suggests that they put up a sign to this effect.  Signs are in place to announce that prams, food and drink may not be brought into the stadium, but the fact that pass-outs are not available is not mentioned during the security search and the swiping of the ticket.   To get back into the stadium Sellicca had to get spare tickets which her friends had, and to buy new additional tickets (at full price!), even though there was only another half an hour playing time left. 

In Sellecca’s party her brother’s packet of mint bubblegum and her boyfriend’s favourite (empty) water bottle had to be donated to the bin, whilst a friend’s bottle of water was not destroyed as it was covered by a jersey.   Sellecca relates a story of a group of orphans that was taken to one of the previous events, and they had to have their lunchboxes destroyed because they did not know the food and drink rule.   Umbrellas and cameras with detachable lenses may also not be taken inside the Stadium.

Sellecca’s journey back to the park-and-ride site was uneventful, the toilet queuing took 3 minutes, the spectators were well-behaved, the food prices were reasonable, paying R25 for a wrap, and “the stadium really looks like something out of this world”, she concluded.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Cape Town World Cup fans will be on a roll!

The City of Cape Town has spelt out its public transport plans for the soccer fans attending the World Cup in Cape Town from 11 June to 11 July.

A combination of transport methods, including trains, buses, minibus taxis, and metered taxis will transport guests between the airport, the station, the public viewing areas, and the Cape Town Stadium, reports the Cape Times.

Soccer fans with World Cup tickets will travel for free between the stadium and any one of 25 park-and-ride centres in the city, even stretching out as far as Strand, and also including UCT, Camps Bay High School, and Kronendal Primary in Hout Bay, offering 7000 parking bays in total.   Park-and-ride centers include Century City, GrandWest Casino, Kuilsriver, Oostersee, Fish Hoek, Retreat, Brackenfell and Claremont.

A shuttle bus will run from Hertzog Boulevard at the Civic Centre to the Cape Town Stadium, starting 6 hours before the match starts until 4 hours after each match on match days.  

On match days too, an Atlantic seaboard bus service will run from Hout Bay through Camps Bay and Sea Point, to the Stadium, starting 4 hours before kick-off, until 2h00 the next morning.

Throughout the 31 days of the FIFA World Cup, a shuttle bus will transport soccer fans from Cape Town International airport to Hertzog Boulevard 24 hours of the day, in intervals of 6 – 30 minutes, depending on usage.   The cost is a reasonable R 50 per one-way trip.

A further bus service will operate in the city itself, running 24 hours per day, and leaving every 10 – 30 minutes, connecting Hertzog Boulevard, Table Bay Boulevard, Heerengracht, Coen Steytler Avenue, Long and Loop Streets, Buitensingel Street, Orange Street, Buitenkant Street, Darling Street, Oswald Pirow Avenue and back to Hertzog Boulevard.   This will allow soccer fans, with tickets for the stadia, or just coming to enjoy the fan park outside the City Hall, to obtain easy access to their hotels and to restaurants.  Another shuttle bus route will be to Queens Beach in Sea Point, via the Waterfront, until 2h00 every morning.

Trains will transport the soccer fans to public viewing areas at the Bellville Velodrome, Athlone Civic Centre, OR Tambo Sports Hall in Khayelitscha, and the Swartklip Sport Hall in Mitchell’s Plain.

The city has warned that one will not be able to park close to the stadium, and that disabled soccer fans will have to also make use of public transport, its shuttle stations being wheelchair-friendly.

Further information about the transport connections during the World Cup can be obtained on www.capetown.gov.za, or at tel 0800 656 463.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

SA receives 75% score from FIFA for Confederations Cup

FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke has rated South Africa as 8/10 on its readiness to stage the 2010 World Cup from 11 June to 11 July next year, reports the Cape Times.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter downsized the score to 75 % at the conclusion of the Confederations Cup.

The FIFA rating is based on the country’s current organisation and hosting of the Confederations Cup, for which the final was played on Sunday evening.   “The organisation from the LOC has been really top class.  What is more pleasing is the players are returning to their countries with a good opinion of South Africa, the people, fans, stadiums, hotels, and training facilities.  That is the best advert we could hope for”, Valcke said.

Blatter added that the Confederations Cup had been well run and that FIFA is looking forward to a “hugely successful 2010 World Cup”, reports the Cape Times.

Incidents such as a strike by volunteers at Ellis Park, and the alleged theft of cash from the Egyptian team players’ rooms have been effectively dealt with.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said that crime could happen in any country:   “Players being robbed  is sad, but it can happen anywhere in the world – even in the United States.   We take as many precautions as possible, but I am satisfied fans, teams, and the public will be safe during the 2010 World Cup.”   At the media briefing at the conclusion of the Confederations Cup, Blatter did not refer to crime as one of the issues that need to be addressed for the 2010 World Cup.

Blatter said that he hoped to give South Africa a score of 10/10 in 2010.

Further problems which the Confederations Cup highlighted is a shortage of 15 000 beds in Bloemfontein, and problems with the park-and-ride system in Johannesburg.   FIFA has also highlighted that it does not wish the new soccer stadia to become “white elephants” after 2010.

Valcke said the the teams, the players and the officials who are part of the Confederations Cup will be South Africa’s best ambassadors for 2010.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com