26/10/2015: EcoMobility enters final week
The EcoMobility World Festival is entering its final week this week and will end on Saturday, 31 October 2015 with an Eco-block party to thank residents for participating and cooperating with EcoMobility.
Also this week is a final media conference where the Executive Mayor, Cllr Parks Tau will summarise the achievements and impact of the Festival and make certain pronouncements on the legacy projects and the way forward.
The Festival promoted various EcoMobile modes of transport such as walking, cycling and included numerous events that involved residents where the City of Johannesburg joined leading cities around the world that use streets for social activities and sport.
The Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Transport in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Christine Walters, says that the Festival has achieved its objectives and in some instances exceeded them.
“I am sure I can say that there is a city wide consensus that for our City to be sustainable, car use must be reduced especially in CBD areas like Sandton. We have had a month long of dialogue and debate amongst stakeholders and residents and the feedback from these engagements and social media has mostly been positive,” says MMC Walters.
“The criticism we received from some quarters has also been constructive and we have taken it as a basis to consider changes where the public feels are needed,” adds MMC Walters.
“We should also confirm that Sandton has remained accessible during the course of the month”, concluded MMC Walters.
Gautrain and the City of Johannesburg is also working with the RMB Winex Exhibition organisers to ensure that wine lovers able to enter Sandton as well as make use of the Gautrain and the free mini bus taxi shuttles during the Festival.
Responding to the spirit of the Eco-Mobility Festival, and conscious of the importance of reducing the drink-drive risk by ensuring adequate access to public transport, Gautrain has added three additional services, going North, East and South from Sandton with the following schedule on 28, 29 and 30 October 2015:
Gautrain Route Depart & Arrive Depart & Arrive Depart & Arrive
Sandton to Park 21:40 – 21:48 22:10 – 22:18 22:40 – 22:48
Sandton to Hatfield 21:08 – 21:42 21:38 – 22:06 22:08 – 22:46
Sandton to Rhodesfield 20:58 – 21:10 21:28 – 21:40 21:58 – 22:10
Executive Director of Transport in the City of Johannesburg, Lisa Seftel, also indicated that the Festival organisers are working closely JMPD and SAPS who are monitoring and managing the EFF March which is anticipated to arrive in Sandton around 16:00 on Tuesday, 27 October 2015.
At the moment no changes are anticipated but if necessary, speedy changes to the transport patterns will be introduced and members of the public informed.
The EcoMobility Festival will close with the Eco-block party on West Street in Sandton from 12h00 until late on Saturday, 31October 2015. This is free and open to all residents and will feature big screens where people can watch the Rugby World Cup final and the popular football Soweto derby. Entertainment will include award-winning DJ Black Coffee and Mafikizolo.
Members of the public who want to attend the Eco-Block Party are encouraged to use park and walk facilities at Innesfree Park or George Lee Park or park and walk from the rooftop at Sandton City.
For more information, please contact:
Wonder Dlamini at 079 408 7235;
Nkosinathi Nkabinde at 083 408 7787 or
Tshwane Malope at 079 922 8184
