Name and Location
A Re Yeng – Tshwane Rapid Transit (TRT) system, Gauteng, South Africa.

Client
City of Tshwane.

Project Description
The Tshwane bus rapid transit (BRT) system, known as A Re Yeng, or Let’s Go, forms part of the City of Tshwane’s 2055 Growth and Development Strategy. The City of Tshwane has established a set of objectives to transform the public transport system by providing high-quality, yet affordable, public transport.

The 56 km of trunk route, featuring BRT buses in dedicated lanes stopping at dedicated stations, will run from Wonderboom to Denneboom, with passengers transported to trunk route stations using complementary or feeder routes.

The entire BRT system will link Kopanong, in the north-west of Tshwane, to Denneboom, in the north-east, following a U-shaped route and traversing the inner city.

TRT Phase 1 will be completed in five infrastructure construction phases.

The 7 km, Phase 1A leg of the BRT system will run from Nana Sita, in the central business district (CBD), to Hatfield.

It is expected that Phase 1A of the system will ramp up to transporting 7 800 passengers a day, with the final system running at 136 000 passenger trips a day in 2017. During this phase, about 30 buses will operate and provide direct services between the CBD and Hatfield, with buses running every seven minutes along this trunk corridor. Feeders will also serve the corridor, running at 15-minute headways and docking with the trunk stations at Nana Sita 1, Sunnyside 1 and Sunnyside 2 stations.

Phase 1B will run from Hatfield to Menlyn and Phase 1C from the CBD to Rainbow Junction.

The Tshwane BRT comprises 18 m articulated buses, each carrying 90 people, and 12 m buses, each carrying 60 people.

An estimated 174 buses will be procured for the system and will comply with the latest European emission standards. The city has further approved a decision to roll out compressed natural gas fuel for at least 30% of the TRT bus fleet, after Phase 1A. This is part of the city’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions while driving sustainability.

The low-floor buses are easily accessible to children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The City of Tshwane has chosen two designs for the stations.

Memory Box concept stations will be located in the CBD. They will include imagery and information on the historic buildings surrounding them.

The Retro-Tram design will be used for the stations located outside the CBD. The concept is intended to evoke the imagery of the city’s historical tram lines, realised in a modern style.

Payment on the BRT system will be by smartcard and should be compatible with other public-transport smartcard systems.

Value
The City of Tshwane has secured R3.2-billion in funding from national government over the next three years.

Duration
Construction for Phase 1A of the city’s TRT system, which will be rolled out in 2014, has started. The system is officially on track according to the milestones and timelines outlined for the Hatfield station project, for which the sod-turning ceremony took place in July 2012.

Phase 1B – Hatfield (University road) to Menlyn, or the BRT Line 2B – is expected to be completed in March 2016.

Phase 1C – the CBD (Scheiding street) to Menlyn, or the BRT Line 1A – is scheduled for completion in August 2015, and the Rainbow Junction to the Akasia-Kopanong section, or BRT line 1B, in October 2016.

Phase 1D – Menlyn to Denneboom station, or BRT line 2C – is scheduled for completion in June 2017.

Latest Developments
Daimler Trucks & Buses South Africa (DTBSA) is supplying 40 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to the TRT system, with the first buses to be in operation in the first quarter of this year, says DTBSA executive director Kobus van Zyl.

“We are busy with the homologation process.”

Van Zyl says the City of Tshwane is responsible for providing the fuelling infrastructure for the CNG fleet.

A CNG bus will typically travel about 300 km and then return to the depot to be refilled.

The Mercedes-Benz buses are being supplied at the request of the metro to reduce the public transport system’s environmental footprint.

A CNG bus is 10% more expensive than a conventional bus, while its emission footprint is equal to that of a Euro V engine.

The fuel consumption of a Euro V bus is similar to that of a CNG bus. However, CNG costs R7.99/ℓ, compared with the current diesel price of between R10/ℓ and R11/ℓ.

Euro V refers to the European emission standards for vehicles. Euro V vehicles cannot be sold widely in South Africa, owing to the poor quality of our fuel.

The chassis for the fleet of CNG buses are being assembled at the DTBSA plant, in East London, while the bus bodies are being manufactured by Busmark, in Randfontein.

This will be the first CNG bus fleet in operation within a local bus rapid transit system, says Van Zyl.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lonerock Construction (BRT Line 1A: Roadway – Pretoria street to Venter street); Mivami Construction (BRT Line 1A: Roadway – Venter street to Louis Trichardt street); Vharanani Properties and Boitshoko Road Surfacing joint venture (BRT Line 1A: Roadway – Louis Trichardt street to Rainbow Junction); seven contractors from the Contractor Development Programme (BRT Line 1C: NMT Facilities  – Kopanong station); Superway Construction (BRT Line 2A: Roadway  – Nana Sita street); Bophelong Construction (BRT Line 2A: Roadway – Kotze street to Lynnwood/ University road) and Bona Consulting (urban traffic control).

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
TRT project leader Lungile Madlala, tel +27 12 358 4091, fax 086 241 8303 or email  lungilem@tshwane.gov.za.