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News Archive November 2011 People are back on the bus
| People are back on the bus |
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| Wednesday, 16 November 2011 |
Commuters are pleased that Rea Vaya is back on the road, although ticket sales are still picking up as people return to the service.
FOR most Rea Vaya commuters, seven weeks without the bus service was more than they could bear.
Reasons given were mainly that other transport did not drop them close to their work places, and that they had to take two or three more trips before getting to their destination.
One commuter, Zinhle Ngwenya, a learner at Selelekela Secondary School in Soweto, said she used the train during the Rea Vaya drivers' strike, which began on 1 August and ended on 27 September.
Zinhle, who lives in the inner city, said the experience was not pleasant at all because trains were too full and broke down too many times.
She also explained that she liked using Rea Vaya because apart from the fact that it dropped her in front of her school, it got her there on time and it was cheaper. Zinhle has already bought her month's worth of tickets.
She usually catches a Rea Vaya bus at Johannesburg Art Gallery Station and gets off at Orlando Stadium Station.
Other commuters at the Hillbrow Bath House Station said they were happy to have Rea Vaya back up and running because this meant less traffic on the road and "getting to work on time".
Joseph Mthiya said: "Some public transport [is] not safe and [doesn't] give us good service that we deserve. I am so glad Rea Vaya is back."
The bus ridership has since improved to almost 80 percent of the original intake. Prior to the strike, Rea Vaya enjoyed a ridership of a bit over a million in a month, according to the company's operations director, Jeff Ncgobo.
Rea Vaya buses returned to service on 27 September, after an agreement was reached between the bus operating company, PioTrans, and the drivers through their union, the South African Municipal Workers Union.
The agreement included a basic monthly salary of R6 550 a month, a R1 500 once-off payment upon returning to work, a 13th cheque equivalent to a monthly salary, performance bonus of up to R600, and a voluntary medical aid with the company contributing 50 percent and the medical aid holder contributing the remaining 50 percent.
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