 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
News Archive July 2011 Route to Rea Vaya in spotlight
| Route to Rea Vaya in spotlight |
 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 21 July 2011 |
Rea Vaya was discussed at the Southern African Transport Conference, at which experts looked into critical transport issues on the African continent.
Rea Vaya: a significant empowerment deal in the public transport sector, says Colleen McCaul of the BRT management unit
LESSONS drawn from the implementation of the bus rapid transit systems, Joburg's Rea Vaya and Cape Town's MyCiti, were discussed at the Southern African Transport Conference (SATC).
Under the theme Africa on the Move, transport experts from the private and public sectors tackled critical issues on the continent.
The conference, held at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research International Convention Centre in Pretoria from 11 to 14 July, was supported by the Ministry of Transport, the Transportation Research Board of the US, and the United Nations Development Programme.
Rea Vaya is the country's pioneering Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Since its inception in 2006, Rea Vaya has had to tackle wide-ranging issues from infrastructural changes to the city's landscape to creating a unique bus operating company owned by members of the taxi industry, from procurement of buses and other equipment to managing 31 BRT stations 18 hours a day.
Colleen McCaul of Colleen McCaul Associates and Rea Vaya's project management unit, discussed the key agreements reached during negotiations with taxi operators affected by the implementation of Phase 1A of Rea Vaya.
She explained that successful negotiations with the taxi industry were partly the result of the use of an independent chair and facilitation team that created a process that both parties could trust.
"A substantial technical support team for the taxi industry negotiation team, chosen by the industry, was an essential ingredient in the successful outcome. Technical teams were able to work through many issues jointly."
The negotiations drew together members of nine Soweto taxi associations, some with a history of conflict between them, into one company, running a joint operation on all their previous routes, she added.
"It was a significant empowerment deal in the public transport sector that involved grassroots operators from the informal taxi sector as 100 percent shareholders of a modern bus rapid transit company." The control of relationships with passengers was put in the hands of the City, said McCaul. "The City now determines on which routes these buses can operate and can alter these at its discretion. In this way, the City takes back ownership of the routes in the interests of the passengers.
Rea Vaya: a great achievement, says Eric Motshwane, director of corporate affairs and communications at PioTrans
These differences with taxi-style transport also mark the deal as a transformative break with the past."
The new shareholders withdrew their competing minibus-taxi services and many old taxis were scrapped.
Eric Motshwane, the director of corporate affairs and communications at PioTrans, described Rea Vaya as a great achievement that reduces congestion on the roads. PioTrans is the bus operating company running the Phase 1A services of Rea Vaya. Former taxi owners are its shareholders.
Motshwane previously owned five minibus taxis that plied the busy route between Soweto and central Johannesburg.
Today, 143 buses operate on a daily basis from Naledi, Mofolo, Protea Glen, Eldorado Park, Jabavu and Dobsonville in Soweto on feeder routes or the trunk and complementary routes to the inner city, Ellis Park and Braamfontein.
"We are very humbled that our political heads listened to our concerns and implemented the recommendations that we made," said Motshwane.
He said that despite resistance from some taxi bosses, there was a determination to push the project forward.
Rea Vaya has attracted strong patronage from Soweto suburbs like Meadowlands, Orlando and Jabavu, and Protea Glen in the south west of Soweto. Rea Vaya is also successfully running an Inner City route. Simphiwe Ntuli, the City's director of infrastructure, also noted that the BRT had become attractive to a number of car users in Joburg.
"For example, at Thokoza Park Station, quite a number of people are leaving their cars at the station and hopping on to the bus," said Ntuli.
Members of the Rea Vaya and MyCiti management teams also shared their BRT operational experience. They discussed the challenges of transforming the public transport industry into the new systems, operating these networks, and the infrastructure necessary for integrated public transport to run effectively.
Related stories: |
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
