Commuter feedback, despite a few teething problems, for phase 1A of the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which has been running since September, has been encouraging, says City of Johannesburg executive director for transportation Lisa Seftel.

“They love the price, the feel and the speed,” she says. “However, the tickets have caused some confusion. The idea is for commuters to return their tickets once they have been used, to prevent fraud, and some commuters have not been cooperative,” she explains.

She says that travel schedules are regularly adjusted depending on travel demand. Because the demand for buses during the day starts to peak earlier than expected, the City of Johannesburg is scheduling additional buses earlier in the day. “Learning from experience, we have made [changes] and improvements, not necessarily visible to the commuter,” she says. When the BRT system first opened, there were a number of problems with station doors and other technological glitches, but these have since been improved.

Seftel says that it has been a challenge to get patronage for this inner-city service, because it is new and people are used to walking. The lack of big bus shelters and stations as opposed to the bus stops in the middle of the city could also be adding to the problems with patronage. “People do not know where to get on or off. Even though they want to use this bus service, they may still be scared that their personal possessions will not be safe when they get off the bus. There are a lot of unintended effects that we need to think through on the service,” she says.

The Rea Vaya construction currently under way in small sections in Soweto, is still causing some congestion and the BRT buses then have to travel in mixed traffic.

It will take some time before the positive impacts of the BRT system on congestion will be seen, says Seftel. Only 40 buses are currently in use, as opposed to the 143 buses that will be operational when the BRT system is completed, which is bound to have an bigger impact on reducing congestion.

Construction is continuing on phase 1B and 1C of the BRT system. Seftel says that the ‘metro loop,’ a loop around the Metro centre, which will connect to the Commissioner/Market loop through Rissik street, is about 60% to 70% complete. Construction is currently under way between the Empire and Portland roads and at Nasrec, where three stations are being built in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The starter service for phase 1A overlaps a taxi route, and the City of Johannesburg is in negotiations with taxi operators to encourage them to remove their taxis and become shareholders of the bus operating companies. Seftel reports that these negotiations are progressing well.

“There have always been people in the taxi industry who have been supportive and have welcomed this opportunity for greater formalisation, stability and profitability. Those are the people that we are negotiating with.

Then there are those who are fearful or who have opposed it in some way. I believe that, now that [the BRT system] is here, people will start to accept it. There was a time when they thought they could stop it – I believe that antagonists now realise this is not possible,” she says.

Meanwhile, she maintains that clean air is part of the Rea Vaya brand. The buses are Euro 4 compliant and have particle traps to further reduce emissions. Also, stations are constructed largely from glass, which allows for more natural light and reduces the need for electricity. Seftel says that Rea Vaya is the biggest carbon credit project in Johannesburg in terms of impacting on air quality.

Where safety measures are concerned, stations and buses are monitored on closed-circuit television and buses have global posi- tioning systems on board. Operators can track the buses, monitor speed and the drivers’ driving techniques from a control room. This allows for direct communication with drivers who can then immediately correct bad driving. The glass panels in the stations ensure that they are not dark or dingy and ramps and barriers provide additional safety. All stations are also disability friendly and there are dedicated median bus lanes, making it safer from a commuter perspective.

However, despite the dedicated bus lanes, some buses have sustained a few minor bumps and scratches. “The buses have not bumped into cars, but a few motorists have not known what to do in relation to the bus lanes and have bumped into buses,” explains Seftel. She says that there have been a number of pedestrian safety issues, because stations are in the middle of the road, in spite of zebra crossings and admits that the City of Johannesburg needs more pedestrian- safety campaigns. “Another area of concern was the large gap occasionally left between the station and bus, but it seems that driver training is [correcting] this and the safety of the system is improving everyday,” she explains.

Sufficient transport provision during the 2010 FIFA World Cup is not just about the number of buses, but also the frequency with which buses can move. “It is a planning issue. If, for example, it is agreed that on match days all commuters will finish work at 15:00, then the buses that usually pick commuters up at 17:00 will be able to fetch those commuters earlier and be available at 17:00 to take [spectators] to matches. Provided that all the different stakeholders cooperate, there will be enough spectator transport,” Seftel points out.

“Some of the bus companies are recapitalis- ing. They would not recapitalise for 2010 alone. People are starting to see that there is a public transport future,” she concludes.

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