Stopping at the spot Hector Pieterson was shot and killed on 16 June 1976

NEW York City commissioners from its departments of transport and city planning were awed by the way Rea Vaya has transformed transport in Johannesburg.

"Rea Vaya is an extraordinary example of good planning and effective implementation," said Amanda Burden, the chair of the New York City Planning Commission. "It is amazing how the system can move people quickly to their destination as efficiently as possible."

The delegation was in Joburg to learn about recent developments in transport and urban planning as well as to share their experiences.

They were escorted on their trip by the member of the Joburg mayoral committee for transport, Rehana Moosajee, and representatives of Rea Vaya, the Johannesburg Development Agency, the South African Cities Network and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

To see the system in action – and get first-hand experience of Johannesburg and its history – they were taken on a Rea Vaya bus ride to Vilakazi Street, in Soweto on 25 February.

The tour was facilitated by the Rea Vaya Marketing Department.

The tour was part of an international travelling exhibition entitled Our Cities Ourselves funded by ITDP and hosted together with several partners, among them Rea Vaya, the Johannesburg Development Agency and the South African Cities Network.

Speaking at the Bus Factory in Newtown before setting out on their journey, Moosajee gave a brief history of transport in Johannesburg and the challenges it faced in getting Rea Vaya ready before the football World Cup, which took place in June and July 2010.

From there, the group walked through downtown Joburg to Chancellor House Rea Vaya Station to catch a bus to Vilakazi Street, in Orlando West.

Along the way, they learned about the layout of Rea Vaya stations. Once in Soweto, the group took a short walk along Vilakazi Street, where they saw some of the interesting sites on the famous thoroughfare.

These include the homes of two Nobel Peace Prize laureates – Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela – and the spot were Hector Pieterson was killed. Pieterson was the first victim of the 16 June 1976 uprising. Vilakazi Street was the epicentre of the protest by schoolchildren against apartheid education.

Describing her experiences of Rea Vaya after the tour, Burden said it was a thrill riding on the Rea Vaya bus. "You have incredible leadership that managed to pull off something like that," she said. "This is quite tremendous and inspiring."

The success of Rea Vaya epitomised the strategies that cities around the world should follow, she added.

Her colleague, Janette Sadik-Khan, a commissioner from the New York City department of transportation, shared her sentiments. "I think it is a terrific system and the stations are well maintained and are of a different environment [to the outside]," Sadik-Khan said.

She was particularly impressed that Rea Vaya had incorporated facilities for people with disabilities and had involved local communities in the project. New York City was actively working to reverse and reduce car domination over public spaces, she added.

"New York is working hard to create sustainable transport, including incorporating high-quality pedestrian islands and protected bicycle lanes."

The city developed around its subway and commuter rail network, the largest rapid transit system in the world. However, the city has been continuously retrofitted to accommodate cars.

Other important issues that were raised on the tour were the importance of partnerships and the involvement of communities in city projects.

Transport planners and operators from Senegal and Ghana have also studied Joburg's public transport system in the past months.

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