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Tshwane team gets the facts
- Details
- 30 October 2012
Tshwane sent a delegation to Joburg to find out more about implementing a Bus Rapid Transit system and setting up negotiations with the taxi industry.
VISITORS from Tshwane metro left Joburg with a wealth of information on how best to implement, manage and operate a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system like Rea Vaya.
Joburg's northern neighbours were in town recently to hear from the horse's mouth about the dos and don'ts that were involved in setting up Rea Vaya. The group, comprising staff members from Tshwane's department of transport, got first-hand experience of Joburg's first class service.
They travelled in a Rea Vaya bus, visited stations, witnessed the automatic fare system collection system being tested live, and toured the Dobsonville depot, which is under construction. Tshwane is aiming to roll out the first phase of its BRT in 2014.
Reflecting on the lessons of the day, Clifford Malimabe, a work stream leader in infrastructure in Tshwane, said the trip was worth the time and the money. "We have learned that we need to broaden our minds and think beyond just the implementation; next time we will bring with people who are going to deal with the operational duties, as early as possible so they can inform the design of our system. And not only that, but to also ensure that skills transfer takes place," said Malimbe.
Another lesson they were taking home was to avoid outsourcing station management duties: "We need to find a way of managing the stations internally". Malimbe said that in the first roll out, they would opt for level flow stations so that all buses could be adaptable to all routes.
Workshop presentation
The day started with a workshop at which a series of presentations were made by Rea Vaya senior staff members. First on the podium was Jacques van Zijl, Rea Vaya's project manager, who gave a brief overview of the system and lessons learned during its implementation.
In his remarks, Van Zijl advised the delegation to start right away with preparations for operations and not to have their focus narrowed to the implementation phase only. "The sooner you start thinking about how you are going to run operations, [it] will help you to paint a picture of what needs to be done."
He shared the slot with Collen McCaul, an independent consultant who gave an interactive presentation that talked to infrastructure planning, theoretical operations and financial modeling, among other issues.
Charles Blok, the director of infrastructure was also on the sidelines to give details about strategic traffic management and analysis. A presentation by Eric Motshwane, the executive director of corporate affairs at PioTrans, the company that manages Rea Vaya, was an eye opener regarding what to expect from the taxi industry during negotiations.
Taxi industry
In his presentation, he spoke about the transition from an informal taxi industry to the formalised corporate world. He warned that taxi operators might be resistant in many instances, not because they did not want to co-operate, but rather driven by fear of the unknown.
Motshwane advised the delegation not to down play the importance of communicating with taxi operators and other affected parties during the implementation and negotiation phases as it could create mayhem if there was no mutual understanding. Trust was the most important factor in negotiations. "From the start of your talks ensure that there is trust among all the parties involved. If you can deal with that you are sure to eliminate a lot of misunderstandings."
Motshwane, who was renowned for his leading role in representing the taxi industry well during the negotiations to set up Rea Vaya, urged the Tshwane delegation to start educating taxi operators about the advantages of having a BRT. "It important to change the minds of taxi operators not to see BRT as a threat to their business, but rather to see it as step up to greater things. Engage your operators from time to time, even before you start with anything, avoid surprises."
But he did warn the group that the journey was not going to be a smooth ride; it would be filled with many obstacles, yet he advised that amid all the trials they should never give up.
Nomalizo Xabana, Rea Vaya's senior marketing and liaison officer, gave a brief but insightful presentation about the vigorous marketing of the Rea Vaya brand. "The marketing strategy must dovetail with the environment that the service is operating in and speak the language of its people," she said.
She warned that big budgets for marketing could backfire if the money was spent carelessly. "It's easy when you handle big budgets to waste money on poor service providers.
Remember, the brand building process happens with the first moments of truth. The catering, the quality of corporate gifts, the set-up of events, et cetera – these build the brand."
Xabana said Rea Vaya was a success because it was customer driven. She presented results from the regular customer research, which looked into wide-ranging issues that affected customers, including the quality of driving and how drivers treated customers, commuter safety, bus frequency between peak and off peak hours and other related issues.
The results were positive in each sphere, showing that customers were happy with the service, she said.
In the afternoon, the visitors took a Rea Vaya bus from Westgate Station to Orlando Stadium, where they met Rea Vaya technical operations staff who were testing the new automatic fare collection facilities. The card readers are in preparation for the new system, which is scheduled to start in November.
A demonstration of the automatic card reader was done by Enger Nutterburg, an independent consultant. She tapped on to the card reader with an Absa master card and the doors into the station opened. She explained that commuters who had master cards could get them upgraded to adapt them to the system.
The depot
She did the same demonstration with a normal smart card that would also be used when once the system was in full swing. From Orlando, the delegation went to the Rea Vaya depot in Dobsonville, where they were welcomed by Motshwane and Siyabonga Genu, a development manager at the Johannesburg Development Agency. Genu took them on a tour of the facility. The first stop was at the wash bay area, which was followed by a trip to the maintenance area. Genu said that the building was designed with environmental preservation in mind.
He talked through some of the environmental features of the building, such as the oil water separator that was fitted in the maintenance and the wash bay areas. The separator facility was installed to recycle the oil that was drained during the maintenance and washing of buses, he explained.
The administration block impressed the visitors with its cost efficiency. They were told that the building was covered with a recycled plastic like transparent material called lexan, which allowed natural light into the building and so eliminated the need for many electric lights.
Genu explained that censor lights, which switch on when they sense movement, were installed. The lights will go off when the occupants leave the room. Another feature that fascinated the visitors was the noise barrier wall built at the back of the building. It would minimize noise, a necessary step since the depot was in the residential area.
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