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IN THE NEWS Passengers are giving Rea Vaya the thumbs up, saying it is cheap, fast and efficient. However, some have a few suggestions for improvements.
CATCHING a Rea Vaya bus is convenient, cheap and comfortable, say commuters using the City’s Bus Rapid Transit system between Soweto and the CBD.
The service, a pilot public transport project, has been running for almost six months now and commuters have much praise for the service, as well as some suggestions for improvement.
The service has improved lives, say commuters
Rea Vaya was officially launched by Minister of Transport Sibusiso Ndebele and Executive Mayor Amos Masondo on 30 August 2009.
It aims to cut congestion on the city’s roads, curb energy consumption and vehicle emissions and enhance the urban environment through providing a high quality and affordable public transport system that is fast, safe and reliable.
There is also an emphasis on providing transport for the disabled, the elderly and mothers with children.
To be rolled out over a period of time in a number of phases, in its Phase 1A starter services, Rea Vaya buses run between Thokoza Park in Soweto and Ellis Park in Doornfontein.
And so far, commuters are saying that the service has improved their lives. The stations are close to work or home, the costs are competitive, and the buses offer a high level of comfort, they say.
“I’m all for the BRT,” says Bez Valley artist Mpho Mamphwe. “I use it daily – the station is situated right opposite my home and the bus drops me off right outside the Joburg Art Gallery, where I work.”
Boarding a bus to Soweto at the Carlton Eastbound Station, Lesego Tshepape, a student from Diepkloof, in the township, says he uses Rea Vaya, “when I am not in a hurry, as it saves money, is comfortable and the stations are appropriately placed”.
Nonkululeko Ndlovu, a gym instructor from Protea, in Soweto, laughingly explains that she catches Rea Vaya buses because “the station is close to the Carlton Gym where I work, and I’m lazy to carry my bags to the taxis”.
Some commuters have suggestions for improvements - at times other modes of transport are quicker, they claim; and the stations could be expanded to include ablution facilities and seats.
At the Thokoza Park Station in Soweto, an elderly woman says she loves the BRT “because it saves my pension money”. But she wants seats at the stations to rest. “My feet are killing me,” she says.
Another commuter suggestion is public toilets at the stations.
Jeff Ngcobo, Rea Vaya operations manager explains why the there are no seating and toilet facilities in stations: “Rea Vaya is a public transport system designed to cater for the rapid and safe movement of very large volumes of passengers, in a very short space of time.
"By virtue of the manner in which this takes place within a Rea Vaya station, there are very short waiting times between when a passenger arrives at a station and departure on a bus.
Once the service is fully operational, this waiting time will be as little as three minutes in the peak hour and about 10 minutes in the off peak times. On this basis there is no need for seating in a station.”
Ngcobo says lean rails are provided at a convenient height at all stations for passengers to rest against whilst waiting for a bus.
Adding seating in stations would have taken up valuable space which is required to accommodate the large volumes of passengers at any point in time, he adds.
“Commuter toilets are specifically not provided as passengers are discouraged from spending time within a station, from both a safety and passenger flow perspective. A single emergency toilet is provided within each station, which is locked, not for general use, and is solely for emergency purposes, and for the use of station personnel who cannot leave the station during their duty cycle.”
Public toilets are generally accessible within the station precinct area.
On the journey from Thokoza Park to Ellis Park, daily commuter Justice Madume from Phiri points out that even people with cars park them at the Soweto station and take the bus to work “so it means they are doing something right”.
Several passengers say they are looking forward to the system being extended.
One of them; Lindiwe Zwane, explains: “The bus intervals are quicker now that the system is established but they need to expand towards Baragwanath, which is the transportation hub of Soweto.”
Boarding the bus in town, Mahomed Suleiman from Hillbrow describes Rea Vaya as the future. Yet he says more stations and buses are needed.
Regular commuter Noki Ratlala, from Orlando East, in Soweto, adds: “I love the fact that I can get from Orlando to Doornfontein with only R5, but I hate that the bus is always full by the time it gets to my station in the morning.”
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