Cape Town to Focus on Transportation Improvements after Wheelchair Challenge

Cape Town’s Mayoral committee member, Councilor Brett Herron recently experimented on what it is like to travel on a wheelchair after he was challenged by Whilma Liedeman, a wheelchair user to go around the city on board a wheelchair for an entire morning.
According to reports, the said challenge opened the councilor’s eyes to the reality of how difficult it is to travel on a wheelchair in the city.

Whilma’s inspiration

Whilma is a wheelchair user who found it difficult to find a job. It took her three years to land one because of her disability. When she was finally employed, she faced an even bigger problem, which is traveling from her home in Atlantis to her office in Montague Gardens and vice versa.

It took her a few months, to experience this difficulty when she thought of tweeting Councilor Herron and challenged him to try traveling in Cape Town on board a wheelchair in October.

The challenge that will change lives

On April 11, the city went abuzz when onlookers, passersby and journalists saw the councilor roaming around the streets of Cape Town. According to him, the difficult part is not sitting on a wheelchair for four hours as he initially thought it would cause pain to his body. What was actually difficult about the challenge was facing the barriers along the way.

Immediate transportation improvements

Just last year, the city of Cape Town launched its Transport for Cape Town (TCT) program which aims to improve the transportation system in the area. This includes not only transporting from one street to the other but also transporting and riding various types of vehicles.

The disabled are not the only ones who will benefit from this improved system because according to Herron, even the plight of he elderly, children, pregnant women and women traveling with heavy luggage at night will be addressed.

In an attempt to help improve the lives of these people, new trains will also be made available for their use by 2015. Eighteen train stations will also be reworked, ensuring that they would be universally useful. This will ensure that gaps between ramps and trains will be minimized, if not completely eradicated to make transportation more feasible for everyone.

Dedication and committed service

Councilor Herron admitted to the current lapses in Cape Town’s transportation system as well as its safety but he’s positive that changes will be made in the next couple of months. According to sources, changes have already been made visible just after one year of committed service by the members of TCT.

Herron is looking forward to all of these changes which will also address the needs of the blind. A tactile paving system will be created, along with boarding bridges and an audible pedestrian crossing machine. To make traveling safer even at night, CCTVs will also be deployed in various areas. Although these changes may potentially take some time, Herron is positive that everything will come to life very soon.