The City's member of the mayoral committee for transport is spending Wednesday in Rea Vaya buses, publicising the service which delivers students straight to Wits and UJ, and office workers to the city centre.

TODAY is Car Free Day. And who better to set an example than member of the mayoral committee for transport in the City, Rehana Moosajee? To promote Rea Vaya services on the inner city route, all buses will be operating free of charge for three days, from today till Friday 23 October, she confirms, as she waits in line with other passengers at the Rea Vaya Chancellor House station.

A relaxing and comfortable ride

"This forms part of our promotion of Car Free Day and transport month and to popularise the C3 inner city route services," she adds. The C3 route normally costs R3.50 and travels in a circular fashion from downtown Joburg into Braamfontein, passing the University of the Witwatersrand, the Metro Centre, Constitutional Court and Joubert Park before returning to its starting point in the inner city.

Moosajee set out at 5am this morning on public transport from her home in Lenasia, first grabbing a mini-bus taxi, as this was her only option at this early hour. At a cost of R7.50 she considered it to be quite steep, given the distance, she says. She also found the state of the vehicle left much to be desired.

In Bree Street she disembarked to walk the last stretch to her office at the Johannesburg Roads Agency in Sauer Street for an early morning meeting.

At 8 she was back in the streets, this time taking her preferred form of public transport, a Rea Vaya bus, at the Chancellor House east-bound station in Market Street.

IDEAL FOR STUDENTS

Moosajee laments the fact that the C3 route is still under-utilised, despite the fact that it is ideal for students travelling from Soweto to Wits University in Braamfontein.

Promoting the inner city route

"We realise that a lot more marketing still needs to take place," says Moosajee. "People shouldn't need to hunt for information on public transport."

Mpho Mthetha agrees. She is just one of a number of students taking the Rea Vaya bus every day from Soweto to the Wits Campus in Jorissen Street. Until about two weeks ago she did not know that this service was available, she admits. By chance, she discovered the service and is now a very happy commuter with her friend Dikeledi Montoedi. Both are second-year students in business management.

"The service is very good, but sometimes we do wait for the buses for very long," says Mthetha, who only has to climb aboard two buses to get to her destination. She takes the Rea Vaya T1 trunk route service from her house in Protea, Soweto into the city and disembarks at Chancellor House station. Here she waits for the C3 bus to Braamfontein. She prefers the Rea Vaya bus instead of the taxis as it is a much more comfortable and relaxing environment and her fare is cheaper.

Students travelling from Soweto to the University of Johannesburg campus in Doornfontein can also make use of the Rea Vaya buses. In this case they only need to take one bus, the T1 trunk route service from Soweto to the Doornfontein Campus station in Charlton Road.

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