The City of Cape Town is urging hail-and-ride customers and metered-taxi operators, including those using e-hailing platforms, to participate in a survey that will assist the Urban Mobility Directorate in determining the demand for, and supply of, these services across the city.
The survey is available on an APP that was developed for this purpose, and the closing date for participating is 17 October 2022.
The City says the questionnaire is intended for customers who make use of metered taxis that are hailed at a rank or through a company, or e-hailing platforms such as Bolt, InDriver, and Uber; as well as for operators who provide these services, whether they have a legal operating licence or not. Also, the survey is anonymous.
The application is called CCT Transport Questionnaire and is available for download from:
- Google Play Store –
- Apple App Store –
- Huawai App Gallery –
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility Rob Quintas has called on all Capetonians who make use of these services to download the app and participate in the survey.
He says the City is of the view that the state should ideally not need to engage in trying to measure market demand or stipulating market supply, but the current law requires that the City follows a clear and transparent process to decide on the issuing of new operating permits by the Western Cape Provincial Regulatory Entity.
‘By participating in this survey you will help us determine how many operators Cape Town needs. Thus, customers will in the end benefit from telling us where the gaps are so that we can address these in a systematic and planned manner.
‘The questionnaire is aimed at informing us of the customer’s hail-and-ride experience. For example, participants are asked about their trip start locations, how long they usually wait for the operator to arrive, how often they travel and at what times. It should take about five minutes, if that long, to complete the questionnaire.’
As for operators, the City is calling on all metered-taxi operators – whether hailed at a rank or through a company or e-hailing platforms – to complete the questionnaire.
‘When I met with the leadership of the Western Cape E-hailing Association on 18 August 2022, I made a commitment that the City would double its efforts to gather the data we need regarding metered-taxi and e-hailing services in Cape Town. We have responded by developing this application and questionnaires, and now we need operators to also do their part by participating.
‘The purpose of the questionnaire is to provide us with critical data to more accurately determine the factors to apply in whether the City can support the issuing of any new operating licences by the PRE.
‘The questions posed to operators focus on their operating hours, waiting times between trips, and busiest and quietest times. The latter is important because the long-term sustainability of the industry is key. I am thus urging operators to please make use of the opportunity and complete this anonymous questionnaire so that we can attend to the licensing issue as a matter of urgency. The more data we collect, the better, as this will enable us to make an informed decision.
‘By working together we can create an operating model that is in the interest of customers and operators, and the businesses facilitating these services,’ said Councillor Quintas.
