Rea Vaya needs your views

PUBLIC input is being sought on a proposed contract that will be used for a bus operating company to run Phase 1B of the Bus Rapid Transit system.Read More
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Public input is being sought on a proposed contract that will be used for a bus operating company to run Phase 1B of the Bus Rapid Transit system.
WITH the second step in the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system – Phase 1B – almost complete, the City is looking for public transport operators to establish a bus operating company for the route.

MMC Rehana MoosajeeMMC Rehana Moosajee: Chance for public transport operators to own Rea VayaPhase 1B will run from Soweto to Parktown, through Noordgesig, Riverlea, Westbury, Westdene and Auckland Park. A feeder route will also operate from Yeoville and Parktown. To meet the demand, the bus operating company will require 134 buses.

Much like the first phase of the BRT project has its own bus operating company, PioTrans, so will Phase 1B; this company will then own all the buses used on its route and employ its own drivers, drawn from affected public transport organisations.

Since Phase 1B affects the taxi industry and bus companies such as Putco and Metrobus, as well as smaller private companies, the City is in talks with representatives from each of these organisations to set up a comprehensive bus operating company in which each party’s interests are taken into account.

It has been proposed that the contract for this next phase will be in place for 12 years. According to section 33 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, the City needs to engage in a public participation process when entering into a contract that will have financial implications for the City that are longer than the three years covered in the current annual budget.

The main objective of the public participation process is to receive comments on the proposed contract from members of the public and concerned stakeholders. An information statement and a draft bus operating contract will be published in local newspapers and announced over radio broadcasts during this month.

Library
Copies of these documents will also be on display for interested parties on the second floor (west) of the Council Chamber wing in the Metropolitan Centre in Braamfontein; in all seven of the City’s regional offices; in all satellite municipal offices; in every one of the 90 municipal libraries; and on the Joburg website.

“One of the cornerstones of the project is to ensure that existing public transport operators affected by Rea Vaya are given the opportunity to own and operate the Rea Vaya buses,” says the member of the mayoral committee for transport, Rehana Moosajee.

PioTrans operates Phase 1APioTrans operates the first phase of Rea Vaya “For that purpose the City needs to enter into long-term contracts with the affected operators for the provision of the required bus operating service.”

It is anticipated that the contract will cost between R130- and R164-million annually, depending on a number of factors, such as actual bus prices, loan finance costs and the price – fee per kilometre – that will be negotiated with affected operators.

“These costs are to be funded wholly or in part from fare revenue to be derived from Phase 1B,” Moosajee says.

Residents have until 7 December to email their comments to Segala Malahlela from Rea Vaya's legal department at segalam@joburg.org.za or to deliver them in person to the 11th floor of the north wing of the agency’s building, at 66 Sauer Street on the corner of Jeppe Street, marked for the attention of Mr Segala Malahlela.

Alternatively, they can be faxed to the roads agency on 011 870 4611.

“We trust that City residents take this opportunity to let us know of their views about entering into this long-term contract,” Moosajee says.

Work on Phase 1B, including the stations, is moving ahead at a steady pace, and this leg of the route is expected to be complete and up-and-running by the middle of 2012.