The first Rea Vaya buses took to the road at the end of August 2009. Six months on, it's now time to reflect on the progress of the City's Bus Rapid Transiit system.

JOHANNESBURG has a history of under investment in public transport and is suffering the consequences of historic emphasis on transport planning for private cars.

Rea Vaya is Joburg's Bus Rapid Transit system

Its success is based on being bus rapid transit system which is able to move public transport users comfortably and quickly around Johannesburg using specific designated routes. The enclosed bus stations along the routes allow for rapid boarding and alighting and a high tech control centre ensure the Rea Vaya experience is a world class one.

This road based mass transit project is intended to create opportunities for the main provider of public transport – the minibus taxi industry to work closely with the City of Johannesburg, so that the industry can earn its rightful place in the provision of mass transit. Whilst Rea Vaya is modelled on the experiences of other countries it must be shaped as a uniquely Johannesburg and South African project.

Rea Vaya aims to improve the quality of public transport to existing users but also to be sufficiently attractive to draw people out of private cars onto public transport. 

Rea Vaya is built on a lot of planning work done on the strategic public transport network and in November 2006, council approved Phase 1 of Rea Vaya – scheduled for full rollout by 2013. When Rea Vaya launched in August 2009, it was a momentous day not only for the City of Johannesburg but also for South Africa.

It has been constructed in record time and is a flagship project of the City of Johannesburg.

It is a key solution to traffic congestion

It has been very successfully used in many developing countries with very similar transport problems to South Africa's and so it is the perfect solution for Johannesburg.

REA VAYA AT WORK

Buses will run in exclusive, dedicated lanes in the centre of existing roads. Smaller feeder buses will bring people from the outer areas to the stations on the trunk routes. This will extend Rea Vaya's network to areas far beyond the main trunk routes.

Buses run on a dedicated lane

These buses will operate will operate from about 150 stations, positioned approximately half a kilometre apart. They will run every fivethree minutes in peak times and every 10 minutes in off-peak times and it will be possible to catch a bus from 5am to nearly midnight soon.

The Rea Vaya buses are supported by a sophisticated control centre with automatic vehicle locators to track buses, a driver management system to manage drivers' handling of buses and bus scheduling systems.

On the buses and at stations, passengers will be given up-to-the-minute information about the next bus stop or the next bus arrival. This will be backed by voice announcements to accommodate commuters who cannot read or are visually impaired. All stations are disability friendly.

Rea Vaya will not compete with other transport systems such as Metrorail, mini-bus taxis or the Gautrain. This is an urban transport network that will feed into and complement existing networks to ensure the most effective movement of people across the city.

The total construction budget to date is around R3 billion with R1.5

Rea Vaya buses cater for people with disabilities

STARTER SERVICE: AUGUST 2009

A starter service commenced on 31 August 2009. It comprises of a trunk route (T1) service that commences at Thokoza Park in Soweto and runs 25.5 kilometres to Ellis Park, north-east of the CBD, utilising 23 stations en route on a round trip.

The service was initially started with the inclusion of a smaller inner city complementary service that comprised of two circle routes. This service was discontinued in November 2009 due to sustainability issues.

The starter service is highly successful. Passenger numbers have increased from a daily average of 11 800 in September 2009 to highs of 17 000 in early December 2009 before the festive season business closures. Passenger numbers have reached demand highs of 20 000 per day in January 2010.

Twenty-eight articulated buses with a carrying capacity of 117 passengers and six complementary buses with a carrying capacity of 81 passengers are used to operate 203 trips per day. Services are rendered on weekdays between 04:50 and 21:00 and Saturdays between 05:00 and 15:00.

Buses are currently operating from a depot in Nancefield, Soweto rented from PUTCO where maintenance, fuelling and washing are done. Day parking is made available at Wembley Ice Rink during the day to keep unproductive kilometres to a minimum.

All the bus drivers come from the taxi industry

ROLL OUT: MARCH 2010

The complete phase 1A will be rolled out between 1 March and 3 May. The following additional services are planned to be implemented on 1 March 2010:

• C1 Dobsonville to Ellis Park Complementary service (21 buses)
• F1 Naledi to Thokoza Park Station (3 buses)
• F3 Jabavu to Lake View Station (4 buses)
• F4 Mofolo to Boomtown Station (2 buses)

Services introduced on 1 March 2010 will operate the same first and last bus times as the current starter service.

Bus fares will remain constant during the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The fare adjustment is in terms of a formula approved by Council in March 2009, which takes into consideration changes in input costs.  The first fares were determined on the basis of no direct experience and now has been adjusted on the basis of our experience of actual costs over the last five months.

COMMUTER ADVICE

Rea Vaya buses run on high frequencies driven by demand. Trunk route service frequencies will be 53 minutes and less in high peak. Should it happen that a bus is running late, a message will be displayed on an information board in stations. Automatic on-bus voice messages will annonce the next station to passengers.

A station ambassador explains Rea Vaya to Enrique Peñalosa, the president of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in New York

WORKING WITH THE TAXI INDUSTRY

The Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is set to affect the taxi industry positively as affected taxi operators are on the brink of becoming the owners and operators of the first contracted bus operating company.

It is the City’s vision that the Rea Vaya BRT will co-exist along with the minibus taxi industry. Rea Vaya is planned for only dedicated routes on high density corridors. 

Detailed consultation has been taking place with industry representatives - particularly the minibus taxi industry.

The minibus taxi industry in Johannesburg has formed a joint BRT Steering Committee compromising representatives of both the Greater Johannesburg Regional Taxi Council and Top Six Management and they are actively and positively involved. The City has funded independent technical advisors to assist the taxi industry to engage with the project.

Between October and December 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the City and the Top Six and the Greater Johannesburg Regional Taxi Council (GJRTC). These memorandums confirmed a joint understanding, discussions and future co-operation on the BRT between the parties involved.

Negotiations with affected operators began in August 200910 and is nearing completion. There will then be a hand over and transition phase from the temporary bus operating company to an ex-taxi owned company. In January 2010, a Participation Framework Agreement was signed which sets out how operators who are affected will become beneficiaries and shareholders of the new bus operating company.

PHASE 1B

At the beginning of this year the Mayoral Committee received a report on BRT assessment and refinement process which was conducted at the end of last year. This included recommendations on the Phase 1 B which was initially scheduled to run from Soweto to Sunninghill with a trunk route to Sandton. 

The Mayoral Committee has agreed on a  new refined Phase 1 B trunk or dedicated lane route will now ‘close the circle’ and run from Noordgesig to Highgate, Empire Road, Parktown, Metro Centre, Rissik Street and to join Phase 1A.

This route is 18 km long and the planned completion date is August 2011. This is also when we will be able to introduce the second bus service which will require negotiations with affected operators on this route and the further procurement of buses.

In respect of construction, the Metro Loop will be completed before the World Cup including with two new stations. The construction on Empire Road should be finished just before or after the Soccer World Cup but the City will make sure that there are no traffic disruptions during this event.   Two stations will also be completed on this route by July 2010, one at Helen Joseph Hospital and the other in Westbury.

Global best practice provides indicates why a slower roll out of Phase 1B including some refinement of the route is desirable. BRT’s are most successful if rolled out in ‘manageable chunks’ among other reasons. 

This means that the COJ has put the extension of the Rea Vaya BRT down Oxford Road to Sandton on hold at the moment.  Also impacting on this is the fact that the Environmental Impact Assessment application is still ongoing.

The Mayoral Committee agreed that once the environmental issues have been identified and also once the Gautrain begins operations from Park Station to Sandton, further work would be done to determine the most appropriate routes and ways to extend the Rea Vaya service to the north.

Construction also continues on three depots. The first part of the Dobsonville Depot is now complete and will start to be used shortly, complementing the existing rented depot in Nancefield. Construction on the main Dobsonville depot will commence soon. Two further depots are planned to be built as required for future expansion, one in Avalon and one in Selby.

REA VAYA AND WORLD CUP

The Rea Vaya will be ready to transport football fans from around the world when their teams play in Jozi. Rea Vaya will transport 20 000 spectators to both Ellis Park and Soccer City on match days.

The COJ is working speedily to complete the two stations at Soccer City to match the style and grandeur of the rest of the stadium precinct.  The one station is on top of the Soweto Highway and pedestrians will have to travel by the longest man-made tunnel in Joburg under the freeway into the North side of the Stadium.

REA VAYA AND ENVIRONMENT

If only 15 percent of car users who live close to the City switch to the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, we'll save 382 940 tons of CO₂ by 2010 and 1.6 millions tons by 2020.

The Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is the single largest climate change initiative ever undertaken by the City of Johannesburg and represents a major turning point in how the City deals with congestion, pollution and greenhouse gases as a result of transportation.

The Rea Vaya's brand-new fleet of articulated buses will run on low-sulphur diesel and have the most advanced pollution reduction equipment, leading to an improvement in air quality. Applications to have the BRT project approved for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits are underway.

The City of Johannesburg is working closely with the Gauteng Department of Agricultural and Rural Development (GDARD) in order to get environmental approvals for the construction of various sections of the Rea Vaya BRT system routes. Environmental impact assessments have also been carried out in order to ensure that construction will not negatively impact on the City of Johannesburg.

BENEFITS

The benefits are the following:

• Efficient, reliable and frequent services
• Affordable fares
• A safe and secure public transport system
• Accessible public transport for the disabled, elderly and mothers with children
• A decrease in road congestion, energy consumption and vehicle emissions
• An enhanced urban environment
• Recapitalisation of the public transport fleet.
• Promotion of spatial restructuring as a result of the introduction of public transport corridors;
• Broad based black economic empowerment especially in respect of the minibus taxi industry who will become the owners and managers of the bus and possibly station management; and
• Job creation including in respect of bus drivers and station management staff in respect of operations as well as construction jobs.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

Rea Vaya has earned the City of Johannesburg a first place honourable mention at this year's Sustainable Transport Awards, for the successful implementation of its first phase. Rea Vaya is Africa's first bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

Further, Enrique Peñalosa, the president of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in New York (ITDP), who was instrumental in setting up a BRT system in Bogotá, Colombia, has lauded the Rea Vaya system as “Best-Practise World Class” and a proud symbol of our participatory democratic development.