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News Archive September 2011 Rea Vaya turns two
| Rea Vaya turns two |
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| Sunday, 04 September 2011 |
It's been two years to the day since the first Rea Vaya commuters stepped on to the first Rea Vaya bus. Plenty of other milestones have been passed along the way.
MMC for transport Rehana Moosajee
EXACTLY two years ago, life for public transport users -– and the landscape of Joburg – changed for the better: efficient, reliable and time saving Rea Vaya buses were introduced.
Suddenly, a trip from Soweto to Joburg could be cut from the dreaded one-and-a-half hours it used to take. It became possible to get to town within 30 minutes, thanks to the buses' designated lanes.
This meant that commuters were able to bypass the heavy Monday to Friday traffic jams. No longer did they have to stand in long queues, with no protection from the elements, waiting for their lifts home. Now they could wait at Rea Vaya stations, those artistic, attractive red and blue stations doted around inner city Joburg and along the route to Soweto.
These stations are groundbreaking for South Africa. For the most part, they use natural lighting and ventilation. Though identical in size, shape and colour, each station has a theme that makes it stand out from the others.
Yet they are not the only groundbreaking aspect of Rea Vaya: it was also the first Bus Rapid Transit system in the country, with its first bus going into service on 30 August 2009.
The initial route was between Ellis Park in Doornfontein and Thokoza Park in Soweto, with 40 of the planned 143 buses plying the lanes. They made 16 000 trips a day, covering 5 100 kilometres. As the bus services grew in popularity, feeder routes were introduced. These routes include Dobsonville, Protea Glen, Eldorado Park, Naledi, Mofolo and Maponya Mall.
The public and government alike rejoiced over this Joburg milestone. A section of the minibus taxi industry, which in the past had the monopoly on public transport, was not as pleased, and staged stayaways. There were even some instances of violence.
This resistance frustrated tens of thousands of commuters, but the City, under the leadership of the transport portfolio head, Rehana Moosajee, saw it as a teething problem and an opportunity to further engage the taxi industry. Understanding between the two parties was eventually reached, and an agreement was made. WORLD CUPAnd during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the bus service successfully got thousands of soccer fans to the two match stadiums in Joburg.
Rea Vaya managed to transport thousands of fans to 2010 World Cup matches
Today, Rea Vaya Phase 1A enjoys a ridership of a million people a month. Some 143 buses are registered with PioTrans, the Phase 1A bus operating company, which is owned and managed by nine taxi associations and employs over 300 former taxi drivers who were trained to drive Rea Vaya buses.
This phase focuses mainly on connecting Soweto and the inner city, but Phase 1B is almost complete and will connect Soweto and the northern suburbs, where many Sowetans work. This means that there will no longer be a need for double transport.
The Phase 1B trunk route will run from Soweto, passing Noordgesig, Pennyville, Highgate, Auckland Park and Braamfontein, and end in Parktown. Bus stations have already been built, and 134 buses will be introduced when this phase starts operating.
"Rea Vaya has set the tone for an improved public transport mode in Johannesburg and in South Africa," says the deputy director for Rea Vaya's modelling and funding, Norman Qobolo.
About procuring that second phase buses, he says that lessons were learned in Phase 1A. Rea Vaya is committed to refining its processes to include important aspects such as local content as part of the bus manufacturing value chain.
As young as it is, Rea Vaya was honoured with an Encouragement Award at the Public Transport Congress by the International Association of Public Transport (UIPT) in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in April 2011. The award was to encourage and applaud the promotion of public transport in a big city like Joburg.
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