Using low-sulphur diesel, the city's bus rapid transit emits less greenhouse gases than if it used other fuels – and with Phase 1B launching in early 2012, it will take more cars off the road.

Phase 1B due to start in 2012 will transport people from Soweto to northern Joburg

AT this year's 17^th annual Conference of the Parties (COP17), the City of Joburg told the world about its plans to fight climate change tooth and nail.

The conference was held at the Durban International Convention Centre from 28 November to 9 December. The aim of the conference was to find solutions to and agreement on fighting climate change.

Discussions sought to advance the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan, agreed at COP13 in 2007, and the Cancun Agreements, reached at COP16 in December 2010.

One of the ways that the City is already contributing to a cut in gas emission is through its bus rapid transit, Rea Vaya. The system has a fleet of 143 buses that run on low-sulphur diesel, emitting less greenhouse gases that other types of fuel. Before it was set up, the bus system was researched and tested to determine its potential effects on the environment.

It is estimated that the system will save 1,6 million tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions by 2020 if 15% of private vehicle users who live near the city centre switch to it.

The City's executive director for transport, Lisa Seftel, told the delegates that, "transport has the highest demand for energy, resulting in air pollution. [There is a] need to address SOx and NOx emissions which cause lung-related conditions."

NOx and SOx are produced from the reaction of nitrogen and oxygen and sulfur and oxygen gases in the air during combustion, especially at high temperatures. In areas of high motor vehicle traffic, such as in large cities, the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted into the atmosphere as air pollution can be significant.

In her presentation, Seftel was not oblivious to the fact that, though Rea Vaya is a good idea, it still does not solve even half of the transportation demand in the city. This then results in people still relying heavily on their private cars, or other means of transportation that are not environmentally friendly.

Rea Vaya transports only a fraction of the people in need of transportation. This is because at the moment Phase 1A is the only one in operation, but progress for Phases 1B and C is at an advanced stage. Phase 1B  is expected to start operating by early 2012 and will make it possible for people to catch just one bus from their homes in Soweto to their places of work in northern Joburg.

The route will cater for all manner of Joburgers, from labourers to police officers; from petrol pump attendants to hospital patients and staff; from media workers and students from the two large universities it passes to school learners and the like, most of whom frequent this route.

There is a station just in front of Wits University on Empire Road, another one a few metres down the road, two adjacent to the SABC building in Auckland Park, another one a kilometre away, just opposite the University of Johannesburg and Helen Joseph hospital. Learners from Hoërskool Vorentoe and users of the Rahima Moosa Hospital have stations just in front of their premises too.

Phase 1B starts in Noordgesig and travels through Pennyville and New Canada, Highgate, Stanley, Kingsway, Empire Road, Parktown, Metro Centre, Rissik Street and joins Phase 1A. The route covers the suburbs of Soweto, Richmond, Melville, Westbury, Riverlea, Bosmont, Brixton, Coronationville, New Canada, Pennyville, Crosby, Newclare and Noordgesig.

According to Seftel, over three million trips are made daily. Forty-seven percent of them are by public transport and 53 percent sare by private cars. Most public users use taxis, followed by trains, with buses currently being the least preferred mode of transport.

"The majority of public transport is of poor quality; rail [is] not present in growth areas, aging infrastructure and poor security lead to unreliability, mini bus taxis [use an] ageing fleet, unsafe, internal conflicts, poor internal and external regulation including of routes."

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