Zille's long ride to work
2007-10-16 12:07
Cape Town - Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille was "up and ready to roll" after cycling from her house in Rosebank to the Civic Centre in town on Tuesday morning, in celebration of Public Transportation Month.
"It was great, she's done it many times before," her spokesperson, Robert Macdonald, told News24 on Tuesday. "She really enjoyed it."
Zille cycles the route about five times a year, according to Macdonald, as part of a drive to popularise alternative forms of transport.
The mayor rode on a tandem bicycle with Tim Brink, editor of Bicycling magazine. The two, accompanied by members of the Acsis Pro Cycling team began near the Baxter Theatre, and followed the Main road through Observatory, Mowbray and Woodstock, arriving at the Cape Town Civic Centre at about 07:30.
Brink said the mayor cycled without any problems, and the ride was incident free. He laughed about "the burgundy taxi that tried to cut us off".
He that motorists were generally aware of cyclists even though there was a perception that there's a disregard for them.
In a speech last year after a similar ride, Zille outlined plans to make Cape Town a more bicycle-friendly city.
"We'd like to see bicycles being accommodated on trains as well as buses, at bus stops, stations and park-and-ride facilities," she said.
The Bicycle Master Plan has seen the inclusion of bicycle routes on newly built roads as well as an improvement on existing routes, according to Macdonald. "Millions of rands are being spent on a whole new strategy for transport," he said.