Backward, ho!

If you come across a MyCiti bus stop sign anywhere in the Woodstock, Salt River or Walmer Estate area, don't bother assembling under it. You'll be waiting a long time for a bus to arrive! There should be MyCiti buses operating in these neighbourhoods. But the closest I'll get to seeing a top class bus service in Woodstock (where I live) is on the City of Cape Town's web site. As we've come to expect, where efforts are made to improve public transport in this country, the mini-bus taxi industry seems to have the last say. In the case of the expansion of MyCiti services, an existing bus company, Golden Arrow, is also in a huff. And where there's a huff, there's also a puff of asininity. Golden Arrow and taxi groups fear the competition MyCiti will bring with it.
As a resident of Woodstock I've long wished for added public transport in the area so I can get out of my car, save some fuel and maybe even do the planet some good. There is a desperate need for added public transport in Woodstock and neighbouring suburbs. Taxis rule the roads in these areas. I reluctantly accept they do offer a much-needed service (albeit amid a flagrant disregard for their commuters' safety and the laws of the road.) Golden Arrow too has a role in getting people to their destinations. For decades the company has been, as it's slogan says, 'The bus for us.' But it's monopoly is in danger and as we know, when confronted with competition and change this country, the well- rehearsed reflex is to kick, scream and hold your breath until you get your way. Hey, the taxi industry is an expert in this regard. Ask the City of Johannesburg what happened when it started introducing Rea Vaya buses on its roads.
It will probably remain a wish and nothing more to have a quality bus service in my neighbourhood and the opportunity to choose the means of public transport I prefer. 'Get over it, you whinging twit' I hear you saying, 'Just use taxis or Golden Arrow buses like the rest.' A perfectly acceptable smack down response to my malaise... or is it?
Why are so many of us scared of competition? Why is it when attempts to introduce progress are made, knickers fly into knots? Surely in the case of Cape Town's public transport landscape, there is space for more bus services, like MyCiti? the outcry over the services expansion can't surely be just over money.
Of course the cliched argument is made that the City of Cape Town's doesn't have the required operating licences to expand Myciti to Woodstock et al. Cue the rolling of the eyes and gag reflex. Behind the cliche is a myopic, avaricious agenda, especially where the taxi industry is concerned. It's a short-sighted, backward, infantile reflex, which, if left unchecked as it is, will only keep us in the dark ages of coffin-taxis and monopolistic bus companies. The public is basically being denied the chance to choose how it wants to get from A to B.
For the time being I'll have to settle with daydreaming about a time when I can choose to leave my car parked; when I can choose the bus service I want to use based on tried and tested criteria: reliability, safety and economy. I fear I must continue to fantasise about a reliable public transport service in my suburb, free of the trappings of anti-competitiveness and childish justifications, as backwardness is allowed to thrive.