2010-02-10: Rea Vaya on track to serve more people
IN less than three years, the City of Johannesburg has planned, built and opened a state-of-the-art Rea Vaya BRT system that uses the cleanest buses on the continent. Today it gives me great pleasure to announce the phased addition of services to the current Rea Vaya starter service to complete the full Phase 1A of the Rea Vaya Project from 1 March to 3 May 2010.
Since 31 August 2009 we have been operating only 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.
On this route 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 closure. We have learnt an enormous amount from interaction and feedback from our Rea Vaya customers. I would like to thank our passengers for their feedback and patience in ironing out our few starting challenges.
Rea Vaya: We are going - Service to be extended!
Rea Vaya BRT is now ready to operate all the services scheduled for phase 1A of the Rea Vaya Project. From 1 March 2010 there will be a new complementary service running directly from Dobsonville to the Johanneburg CBD and Ellis Park Station and feeder services transporting passengers from Naledi to Thokoza Park Station, from Jabavu to Lake View Station and from Mofolo to Boomtown Station.
The final services scheduled for introduction on 3 May 2010 will include an additional complementary service directly from Dobsonville to Maponya Mall and feeder services from Protea Glen to Thokoza Park Station and from Eldorado Park to Thokoza Park Station. A CBD distribution service will be reintroduced to link the trunk services with Braamfontein, Wits University and Hillbrow.
Details of all the routes and maps are attached to this press release.
Services introduced on 1 March 2010 will operate the same first and last bus times than the current starter service. But as from 3 May all service times will be extended and the last buses will depart at 22:40. Sunday services will also be introduced on all routes. The feeder and complementary buses will stop at over 170 bus stops along the routes.
Drivers are already being trained, bus stops are being erected and more staff employed so we are ready for the roll out of services.
I am very excited about this roll-out and to welcome about 35 000 passengers (doing an estimated 70 000 daily trips to the Rea Vaya. We can assure them that they will have a safe ride on our world class infrastructure!
Tickets will be available from trunk route stations and from approved vendors situated near bus stops. Look out for shops that have a sign indicating Rea Vaya tickets sold here. A community based awareness campaign aimed at local shopping areas, clinics etc, will be rolled-out.
From the beginning of March 2010 our service will become more sophisticated. It will include real-time tracking of bus movements from our Rea Vaya Control Room and communication between driver and Control Room. This is important to make sure that buses run on time and that in an event of a problem a quick solution is devised.
There will also be next station announcements on bus, announcements to passengers on bus, both verbally and through the use of variable message signs.
The Rea Vaya system also includes the construction of 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.
Due to the extension and improvement of services and a general increase in operating costs since the determination of the commencement fare for the starter service there will be a fare adjustment from 1 March on the (T1) trunk service, from a current fare of R5 per trip to R6 per trip. A trip on a feeder bus connecting into a trunk service into the inner city will cost R9, 50.
We remain convinced that the fees are affordable, compared to other modes and represents excellent value for money.
The fares applicable to the new services being introduced on 1 March 2010 and 3 May 2010 are attached.
Rea Vaya: We are going – Affected operators from the taxi industry are poised to own and operate the first Rea Vaya contracted bus operating company.
The Rea Vaya starter service commenced operating on 30 August 2009 through a Special Purpose Vehicle Company structured by the bus financiers in anticipation of the completion of negotiations with the affected taxi operators.
I am pleased to announce that the negotiations in this regard are going well. Last month 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.
There is almost full agreement on the contents of the Bus Operating Contract which sets out how the Company will operate the services prescribed by the City. It has a number of innovative clauses including penalties if bus drivers do not drive safely or if the company does not maintain and clean the buses regularly.
The fee per km that the Bus Operating Company will be paid for operating the Rea Vaya buses will be the focus of negotiations in February and once agreement is reached, a final agreement will be signed.
The City is also discussing with the negotiating team of affected operators a smooth transition and hand over period once agreement has been reached to ensure ongoing level of services especially as we introduce new routes and provide a service during the 2010 Soccer Fifa World Cup.
Rea Vaya: We are going – ready for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup
The Rea Vaya will be ready to transport football fans from around the world when their teams play in Jozi. We are planning to transport 20 000 spectators to both Ellis Park and Soccer City on match days and we are convinced that we will be able to move spectators speedily and safely to the game and after the game has finished.
We are 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: We are going – Phase 1 B is moving ahead
At the beginning of this year the Mayoral Committee received a report on a BRT assessment and refinement process which was conducted at the end of last year. A project of this uniqueness and magnitude needs to constantly take stock, incorporate passenger and public feedback and adapt to be sustainable.
Significantly it agreed on a refined route for the planned Phase 1B and new timelines. Initially Phase 1 B was to run from Soweto to Sunninghill with a trunk route to Sandton. The 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, which is 18 km long is already under construction 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.
We have decided to focus on this route due to the fact that it is a health and education corridor giving residents from Soweto, Noordegesig, Westbury, Riverlea, Bosmont, Coronationville and Newclare etc greater access to hospitals such as Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Charlotte Maxeke and schools and education institutions including the Universities of Witwatersrand and Johannesburg. It will also enable residents from the south and west to access the north of Joburg without going through the CBD.
Global best practice provides us with sound reasons 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 we have put the extension of the Rea Vaya BRT down Oxford Road to Sandton on hold for now. Also impacting on this is the fact that we have not yet got a Record of Decision in respect of our Environmental Impact Assessment application. The Mayoral Committee agreed that once this Record of Decision is available 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.
Rea Vaya: We are going – we are transforming public transport
The Rea Vaya BRT project is revolutionising public transport and transforming the City of Johannesburg into a place all residents can be proud of.
For those commuters who live near the Rea Vaya, the City is fulfilling its commitment to safe, reliable and affordable public transport. However all communities stand to benefit from the catalyst impact that this project has. I believe that the introduction of Rea Vaya together with projects like the Gautrain sets a new standard for public transport innovation.
For more information contact:
Lisa Seftel
Email: lisas@joburg.org.za
Tel: (011) 870 4511
For the City of Johannesburg's Transportation Department contact:
Donovan William
Tel: (011) 298 5275
For media liason contact:
Nthatisi Modingoane
Deputy Director: Communications
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Tel: (011) 407 7354
Fax: (011) 403 3494
Cell: 082 467 9228
E-mail: nthatisem@joburg.org.za