Journalists from a variety of African countries toured Rea Vaya and its stations, and came away impressed by what the City had achieved..
Reporters from various African countries on a tour of Rea Vaya and its stations
REA Vaya stations and how the public transport system operated impressed some 11 journalists who toured its facilities on Monday, 26 September.
The reporters, who had come from various African countries, started their tour at the Boomtown Station in Soweto. They were escorted by Rea Vaya's director of infrastructure, Charles Block.
He explained in detail why the stations were built the way they were and why they were the sizes they were, as well as why some stations had more buildings than others. He pointed out that although all the stations looked the same, artwork at each station told them apart.
The stations use natural lighting and natural ventilation to moderate temperature. At every station there are cameras that are connected to a control centre, which makes it possible for station staff to communicate directly with those at the control centre.
The control centre also has automatic vehicle locators that use GPS (global positioning system) to track buses; a driver management system to manage drivers’ handling of the buses; as well as scheduling systems for drivers, their buses and operators.
According to Boomtown’s station ambassador, Kefiloe Mopeli, the station is busiest early in the morning when people are going to work, and again late in the afternoon when they return home from work.
She also pointed out that the station was used throughout the day by people who take the feeder bus service to Mofolo and nearby places. The bus goes along Vilakazi Street, passing Mandela House and Desmond Tutu’s residence.
From Boomtown, the press party went off to Soccer City Station and then to Chancellor House Station in in the CBD.
Rehana Moosajee, the City’s member of the mayoral committee for transport, joined them on the tour. She answered their questions about progress on the construction of Phase 1B and the bus drivers’ strike.
Construction and route negotiations were at a very advanced stage, she said, which made her confident that bus operations would start sometime next year. She also hinted that Rea Vaya was on the brink of signing agreement contracts with the various private bus companies and taxis on that route.
Moosajee explained that the aim of this phase was to connect people directly to their workplaces, abandoning the old requirement of taking more than one trip to get to work.
About the strike, she said the City expected bus services to resume as soon as Wednesday, 28 September.
Wanjohi Kabukuru, an east and central Africa correspondent for the New Africa journal in Kenya, said the tour was exciting and a real eye-opener. He wished delegations from congested cities such as Nairobi, in Kenya; Lagos, in Nigeria; and Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia could also tour such a great intervention.
He was also impressed by the way the City handled the negotiations with the taxi industry, saying Lagos and Nairobi had a lot to learn from Joburg. “There is a lot for African cities to learn from Joburg, especially in terms of the Bus Rapid Transit.”
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