The national transport call centre (NTCC) for the World Cup will become operational from today.
As a Department of Transport (DOT) project, the NTCC will link with the www.2010findyourway.co.za Web site to provide support to visitors travelling to World Cup matches, says the department.
Communications official at the DOT Logan Maistry explains that tourists will receive information on where they can buy travel tickets, the prices of these tickets and on any general transport-related problems.
The call centre number is 011 256 1000, according to NTCC project manager Lusanda Madikizela. She adds that the call centre will not give directions, but rather guide people who want to pre-plan their trips to matches.
“It's for people who plan beforehand on how to get where they want to go and what transport they need to use.” She adds that it cannot be used for people who want assistance only 30 minutes before a match, because it is then too late to make proper travel arrangements through the call centre.
Maistry says that from the Confederation Cup experience, the department learned coordination was a huge problem and this is the reason for the NTCC. “This call centre will link with call centres provincially, locally and nationally for the coordination of transport.”
The NTCC will operate in English so as to overcome language barriers, and will have 22 agents, according to Madikizela. “The operators will have information from all the host cities, their contact numbers and Web sites so they can assist tourists.”
Maistry says the call centre is intended to run for the duration of the World Cup and perhaps a week or two after, because some tourists may still be in SA and may still require transport assistance.
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