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Public transport improving across the country

"WE ARE GOING" The Rea Vaya BRT system transports more passengers than the Gautrain at a tenth of the infrastructure cost

Photo by Duane Daws

13th December 2013

By: Jonathan Rodin

  

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With a number of bus rapid transit (BRT) projects already in operation, engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV (RHDHV) is involved in various capacities and various phases – from planning and design to implementation – of projects in Rustenburg, Polokwane, Tshwane, Johannesburg, Mbombela, Cape Town and the Nelson Mandela metropolitan municipality, says RHDHV traffic and transportation principal specialist Klaas van Zyl.

He explains that RHDHV is also hoping to procure more tenders in these unique rapid transit projects.

Engineering News reported in October that Transport Minister Dipuo Peters stated that, in the 2013/14 financial year, more than R5-billion would be spent on planning, building and operating integrated public transport networks, which include BRT systems.


Rustenburg

RHDHV is involved in the Rustenburg Rapid Transit (RRT) system in terms of project management of the design and construction, says RHDHV project manager Leonie van Wyk.

The system, to be completed in four phases, will consist of 32 bus rapid transport stations and about 600 bus stops reaching 85% of the population within 1 km of their homes.

The system will include direct and feeder bus routes that will link with the RRT trunk roads along the R510 to Kanana and the R565 to Phokeng from the city centre. An auto- mated fare collection system will be used, using a pay-as-you-go smart card. The integrated system enables the user to load cash onto the card instead of the conventional paper ticket.

Roads for the RRT project’s dedicated BRT lanes are being completed in stages for the integrated system. Van Wyk says progress is being made on the north-west corridor, known as Corridor A, on the R104 towards Swartruggens. The construction contract will be completed by the end of this year. Construction has also started on Corridor B along the R565.


Polokwane

RHDHV specialist traffic and intelligent transport systems engineer Ivan Reutener notes that RHDHV is responsible for the nonmotorised transport (NMT) aspects of the Polokwane BRT including the design, tender documentation and implementation of the system.

The planning comprises a NMT master plan and policies for the entire city to integrate with the BRT system, including through the passing and enforcement of new bylaws. “Current bylaws do not enable traffic officers to prosecute someone if they are obstructing the BRT paths,” says Reutener.

In terms of the detail design, the com- pany is looking to implement different classes of cycle facilities. These include from segre- gated class-one cycle facilities, which are next to the road route, to class four facilities, which share road space with motorised vehicles.

The width of the facility will depend on the number of pedestrians and cyclists in the area, he says, adding that the facility will either be on one side of the road or on both sides, depending on the land use along the road.

The master plan for the NMT facilities must be completed by the end of June 2014, while the detail design and tender documentation for the accelerated section were completed last month. The project will go out to tender in December, with construction planned to start in April 2014, says Reutener, highlighting that everything is on track.

The contract for the master plan is valued at about R4-million, with design valued at R8-million. The first phase of NMT construction is valued at about R25-million, which includes the trunk route and excludes all the feeder routes.

Tshwane

RHDHV is involved in the planning of the so-called full Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN), for the Tshwane A Re Yeng BRT system, which forms part of the city’s Compre- hensive Integrated Transport Plan (CITP), says Van Zyl. RHDHV is also involved in the development of the CITP, while facilitating coordination of the two projects. As required by the National Land Transport Act , No 5 of 2009, the CITP comprises a short-, medium- and long-term master plan, the development of which started in 2012. The planning of full IRPTN will identify future BRT routes, beyond the currently indentified Line 1 and Line 2 BRT routes.

Line 1 and Line 2 of the Tshwane BRT trunk route, featuring BRT buses in dedicated median lanes stopping at dedicated stations, will link outlying communities in Mabopane and Soshanguve to the north-west of the city, and Mamelodi to the north-east of the city, to priority employment nodes, such as Akasia, Rainbow Junction, the inner city, Hatfield and Menlyn, also using a network of complementary and feeder routes.

Johannesburg

RHDHV is the design contractor for the route of the Rea Vaya BRT system for the route that starts from the Victoria/Empire road intersection, in Parktown, through Clarendon road in the north, into Louis Botha avenue and Pretoria Main road, which terminates at the intersection of Pretoria Main road and Lees street.

RHDHV principal specialist for public transport planning Roy Bowman notes that Rea Vaya is considered by international BRT analysts to be one of the best BRT systems in world, and has received a gold star rating. However, he notes, South Africans are resistant to using public transport, as the stigma that it is only for poor people remains.

He adds that, compared with other cities worldwide that use BRT systems – Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil; Mexico City, in Mexico; Istanbul, in Turkey; Bogota, in Colombia; and Nantes, in France – Johannesburg is not as densely populated. Therefore, the system had to be designed and rolled out in a way that would make it financially sustainable.

“The Rea Vaya BRT system transports more passengers than the Gautrain at a tenth of the infrastructure cost,” notes Bowman.

Cape Town

Although RHDHV is not involved in the first phase of Cape Town’s MyCiTi BRT system, the company is undertaking the planning for Phase 2, which consists of routes between Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Wynberg and Claremont, says Van Zyl.

Bowman notes that initially, the MyCiTi, Phase 1A system attracted a lot of political attention, as many believed that the BRT system served the more affluent areas, rather than the poorer areas that needed it most.

He says that although the public’s use of MyCiTi was initially quite slow, the BRT system patronage has grown rapidly, in terms of usage, as more people are realising the cost effectiveness and reliability of the system.

Challenges

In terms of design and construction, Reutener explains that introducing a new system in an existing urban environment creates a challenge. The road structure does not always allow for the ideal system to be put in place.

“In the major cities, the environment is unique and, therefore, each project presents a different challenge,” he adds.

Another challenge is addressing the needs of the stakeholders. Bowman explains that there is a lot of sensitivity surrounding the minibus taxi industry, as many involved feel they will lose business to the buses. However, he notes that the taxi operators and drivers should be made aware that they will be compensated for the business or jobs that they lose.

By educating the stakeholders, it will prevent the sabotaging of the system, which will, in turn, prevent delay in implementation, concludes Van Zyl.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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