Commuters continue to choose Rea Vaya

Monday, 08 February 2010

In the news

DAILY passenger figures on Rea Vaya buses averaged over 16 000 in the last month.

In January, an average of 16 073 commuters were carried each day; this is up from December, when the average demand on all days that were not public holidays or Saturdays, was about 12 000 passengers. By the middle of October 2009, daily passenger demand was 16 000 passengers a day, from a base of 11 820 in September. The starter service of the new bus system began on 31 August 2009.

The first month of the new year is a slow month for public transport, as many potential passengers are still on leave. In addition, this year, schools only started on 13 January.

Average daily passengers:

• Week 1: 11 424 passengers a day;
• Week 2: 15 871 passengers a day;
• Week 3: 16 098 passengers a day; and
• Week4: 20 498 passengers a day.

It is clear that passenger numbers increased as the month progressed.

The exceptionally high demand in the last week of the month was fuelled by a partial strike at Metrorail, when some of the trains did not operate.

It proves the volumes that Rea Vaya is capable of carrying, although the buses were much fuller than the normal standard the operators would like to maintain. A number of additional trips were temporarily introduced to cope with the high demand at the time.

Related stories:

• Thousands use December buses
• Close to 16 000 commuters use Rea Vaya every day
• Latest Rea Vaya figures
• No major hitches on third day
• Rea Vaya security successes