With Golden Arrow Bus Services celebrating 150 years in the business of transporting passengers across the Peninsula, it has partnered with CPUT to bring education to worthy students who would otherwise be denied the opportunity to study at a tertiary level.

For over five years, the Golden Arrow Foundation, through its holding company Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) Limited, has helped students with comprehensive annual funding for the duration of their studies at CPUT worth well over R100 000.

In recognition of this continuing effort, the Advancement Department hosted a luncheon earlier in the term to honour the company for the opportunities given to students in industry-related academic disciplines, such as Engineering and Human Resources.

This year, five students ranging from first-years to seniors, were awarded full bursaries to cover their tuition, accommodation, books, travel expenses, and living costs. They all shared the same sentiment of gratitude to the bursars, promising to act with consideration for the rare gift of ‘free education’.

Speaking at the luncheon, Golden Arrow’s Human Resources Director Meko Magida said the bursaries were an ideal means to contribute towards the positive development of the country’s future workforce. “We employ over 2 500 people with a wide spectrum of skills from across the peninsula and countrywide. We therefore felt it fitting to give back to the pool from which we draw our valued human resources. We believe that if you offer holistic support to a student with great potential, you will reap even greater rewards from them as a member of your workforce”, said Magida.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga encouraged the recipients of the bursaries to make full use of the exceptional opportunity, urging them to pay full attention to their academics in order to succeed. Advancement Director Dr Garth van Gensen echoed her sentiments, saying the funding was an invaluable gift to their development, adding that the students should use this opportunity wisely.

Past bursary holder and recent graduate Qaqamba Qauka said the bursary changed her life as a student, allowing her to concentrate fully on her studies and not worry about finances. Qauka is now working in the Human Resources department at Golden Arrow.

Other projects supported by the Golden Arrow Foundation include Adventure Bus Trips, support for the Woodside Sanctuary and various educational and youth leadership programmes. 

By: Thando J. Moiloa

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks to the Mathematics and Physics Department, the Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) now has a better understanding of their customer’s expectations.

The largest carrier of road passengers in the Cape Town Metropole, GABS enlisted the help of CPUT to conduct a survey that focused on their customer’s experiences and expectations.

The result was a 65-page Customer Satisfaction Survey.

HANDOVER: CPUT’s Dr Chris Nhlapo hands over the Customer Satisfaction Survey to Nic Cronje, CEO of Golden Arrow Bus Services

Head of the Department, John Farmer says they jumped at the opportunity of collaborating with GABS, which allowed them to give students an opportunity to put their skills to practice.

Over a period of several months, students conducted face-to-face interviews with passengers at bus stops in Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Killarney, Cape Town and Bellville.   

Students also distributed questionnaires to passengers on busses travelling various routes.

Lecturer Alphonce Bere says the results provide a clear picture of customers’ experiences and expectations as well as a profile of GABS clientele.

The study shows that timelines of buses, fares, the safety with which bus drivers operate buses and courtesy of bus drivers are considered to be the most important things to passengers.

Bere says GABS also received low ratings for availability of buses during weekends and there were concerns around fares and the validity of tickets.  

John Dammert, Corporate Development Manager at GABS commended CPUT staffers and students for their hard work.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A research paper on levels of satisfaction among Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) customers, prepared by lecturers in the Maths and Physics Department, was awarded Best Paper at the recent Southern African Transport Conference (SATC).

The award was presented at a cocktail function on the first evening of the conference which was held at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria in July. The winning paper was co-authored by lecturers Thomas Farrar, Gbenga Abiodun and Departmental Head John Farmer under the title, A 2018 Customer Satisfaction Survey with Users of a Subsidised Private Bus Service in Cape Town.

Farrar, a Senior Lecturer in Statistics, said the initiative is a longstanding contract research project with the bus company. The department’s second-year students conducted a customer satisfaction survey involving 2 500 commuters at different terminals across Cape Town.

“In 2018, we did a survey and produced a report as well as used the data for research purposes.”

A research paper was then submitted to the SATC 2019 by the department, and Farrar presented it at the conference. “I’m very happy about the achievement, in a way it helps to put the department on the map,” said Farrar.

“[The award] improves the department’s profile in the university as well as that of the university in industry,” he added.

The survey revealed that GABS customers are generally satisfied but suggested areas of improvement such as recommendations around safety concerns due to crime.

The annual conference is Southern Africa’s premier transport conference, bringing together over 700 transport professionals to discuss, debate and learn about relevant topics relating to the exciting world of transport.

This year’s theme was Disruptive Transport Technologies - Is South and southern Africa ready?

Written by Kwanele Butana

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The biggest carrier of road passengers in the Cape Metropole, Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS), has once again been given the nod by its passengers.

This came to light when the GABS recently handed over a survey conducted by the CPUT’s Mathematics and Physics Department to Donald Grant, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Transport.

When asked about their overall level of satisfaction, 75% of customers indicated that they were either ‘Somewhat satisfied’ or ‘Very satisfied’ with the service. Furthermore, 93% of customers indicated that they would be willing to recommend the service to others.

Lecturer Thomas Farrar said: “This indicates that GABS is serving its customers well across all indicators of service quality. There are, however, areas where improvements can be made”.

The response times when complaints are made, safety from crime at bus stops and termini, affordability of fares, availability of buses when needed and time spent waiting for a bus were identified as the highest priority areas for improvement.

Respondents for the survey were randomly selected by a team of 43 CPUT enumerators in Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Cape Town (Golden Acre), Bellville and Mowbray.

Dr Prins Nevhutalu, CPUT Vice-Chancellor, commended the CPUT team that worked on the project, emphasizing that quality service is a challenge to us as a country. He said the survey results will go a long way in improving the service rendered by GABS.

Grant said one thing that he learnt while he was Minister of Education in the Western Cape was that good surveys are important. He said his ministry will go on to work with partners in improving the service levels of citizens.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Due to excellent work from the Mathematics and Physics Department, the Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) understands the needs of their passengers and knows areas where they need to improve their service offerings.

This was revealed by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Francois Meyer, during the official handover ceremony of the Customer Satisfaction Survey Report for Golden Arrow Bus Services, held at Bellville campus recently.

Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, highlighted that Golden Arrow had contracted the Department of Mathematics and Physics five times (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022), to conduct a customer satisfaction survey with its customer base. “Handover events for the project's technical report have taken [place] many [five] times in the past! And thanks to Mr John Farmer! – Community Engagement,” Nhlapo remarked.

He stated that the purpose of the ceremony, over the years has been and still is:

• To offer the University an opportunity to recalibrate its social ownership.
• Offers GABS an opportunity to know its customers better and adjust the services accordingly,
• To offer CPUT students an opportunity to train and learn about Research Methodology and Research Ethics (Human Subject - Ethical Clearance).
• It is really about who owns these universities?
• Do they know their communities?
• How do they treat them and relate to them?
• What do they teach them?
• What is the future of these universities?
• Can our universities provide credible solutions to our communities?
• African universities MUST fulfil some of these societal expectations.

Nhlapo enthused: “To say I am happy to be part of today’s handover event, will simply be an understatement, an oversimplification in terms, and not a sincere and fair depiction of the magnitude of this occasion and a complete betrayal of my feelings. CPUT has a standing contract research relationship with Golden Arrow Bus Services going back ten years.”

In his acknowledgement of the report, Meyer said: “This survey has helped to inform many strategic decisions over the last many years. It helped us to serve our passengers as it provides such invaluable performance gage and give us insight into who are our passengers are and what they need from us. The survey is therefore such a handy tool in running a business.”

In his remarks, Prof Joseph Kioko, Dean: Faculty of Applied Sciences, said for the past 10 years or so when “this partnership has run, it has been a wonderful, almost unique, platform for us to work towards the three main pillars of Higher Education: Learning and Teaching, Research and Scholarship, and Community Engagement – our golden triangle”.

Kioko said: “For an enterprise such as Golden Arrow Bus Services or a Metropole such as the City of Cape Town or the Province of the Western Cape, which must necessarily have an eye on a prosperous and sustainable future, this has to do with using data to leverage effective marketing, to build and provide better products and services, to strategise and to design solutions for our customers and our people, and so on. This also applies to universities such as ourselves. And whereas this partnership has sought to advance those goals, when I think about us, as a faculty, the impact of this partnership goes even deeper.”

Acting Head of Department of Mathematics and Physics, Dr Thomas Farrar, provided the presentation of survey results. Dr David Phaho, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships handed over the survey to Ricardo Mackenzie, Western Cape MEC for Mobility and Prof Gilingwe Mayende, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Operations, delivered a vote of thanks.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.