Re: [Debconf-team] Question to Cape Town team: transportation to/from the venue

[Bernelle Verster <bernellev@gmail.com>]

Hi Gunnar

On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 3:28 PM, Gunnar Wolf <gwolf@gwolf.org> wrote:

Hi Bernelle,

> That is correct. People tend to not want to take any form of public
> transport after dark in South Africa. Students usually drive here or share
> private taxis back.

This brings another questions: If walking after dark is dangerous, and
people don't take public transport either after dark, how safe are
taxis? For context: Many people in my country (Mexico) rely on having
the phone number of a known taxi base, as they don't trust grabbing a
random taxi on the street. How is that subject in South Africa?

I'm the wrong person to ask about safety as I don't consider it dangerous - any more than in any other place, but yes, safety is a hotly contested issue. For me it is more about poor public transport services - the options we have stop running, so you can get stuck. As far as I am aware of, taxi's are safe across the board. Having an idea how far you want to go and calculating a price that you then discuss with the driver before starting the journey will prevent over-charging (even with the meters). 

> We did obtain quotes for 'dinner shuttles' - 14 seater buses to be used ad
> hoc, see
> https://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf16/Bids/Cape_Town/Potential_Venues#Transport_jottings

Right, although that would constrain us to meeting at specific
times. A good help, of course, but still likely to leave people
stranded.

I am wondering if we should also consider trying to get a deal with rental car companies, and doing some sort of 'internal Uber', where the people who really want to, can rent a car as long as they offer trips to others, and then we can provide cash for fuel or something like that. Then supplement with coaches/buses for the trips with larger attendance...