Name and Location
Rustenburg Rapid Transport (RRT) project, North West, South Africa.

Client
The municipality of Rustenburg.

Project Description
The project aims to introduce a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Rustenburg, in the North West, similar to the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit (BRT) system operational in Johannesburg, Gauteng.

Current plans envision the operation of 37 stations that will be operated along 40 km of road using 100 articulated buses to transport passengers along the main corridors. The system will also include direct and feeder-and-distribution bus systems that will link with the RRT trunk roads along the R510 and R565 roads into the city centre. A fare system will be integrated, with the same pay-as-you-go smart card allowed on all routes and services.

The project will be completed in four phases.

On completion of Phase 1, the RRT will deliver 225 000 passenger trips a day through 13 routes, 240 bus stops and 15 BRT stations using 268 buses.

Value
A budget of more than R3-billion has been set aside by the Department of Transport (DoT).

Duration
The full-service RRT will be completed by 2020.

Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Phase 2 is expected to be completed in the 2016/17 financial year and Phase 3 by 2019/20.

Latest Developments
The Rustenburg municipality has reported the following progress on the RTT:
• On Corridor A, or the R104, road works, pedestrian and cycle paths have been completed. The next stage will be the building of the BRT stations.  The station construction tender is currently at adjudication and construction is likely to start before the end of the year.  This will be the corridor on which the Phase 1A routes will operate from March 2016.
• On Corridor B, or the R510, work on the road-over-rail bridge is progressing well and should be open for use by the mid-2015.  The considerable road construction from the taxi rank up to the bridge is also on track for completion by the end of 2014.
• The R510 road construction from the rail bridge up to the Boitekong turn-off is also under way and on schedule for completion by the end of next year, in time for the stations to be built and for Phase 1B of operations to start. 
• The final section of the R510 bus lanes from Boitekong up to Kanana started in July and will include the rebuilding of the Bospoort dam bridge to make it higher, wider and longer.  This part of the road construction will be completed by early 2018 and will be used for Phase 2 routes and operations.

In addition to the roads and station construction programme, the design of the bus depots will also start this year.  The consultants to be appointed will design a temporary depot for Rustenburg’s Phase 1A operations and the permanent depots where the new bus operating companies will be located.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
The Rustenburg Integrated Network joint venture (feasibility study) and SMEC South Africa/UWP/Phatwe JV (contract A - development of a public transport route).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
RTT communications manager Sara Butchart, email sara@rustenburgrapidtransport.co.za.
SMEC South Africa, tel +27 014 592 2834, fax +27 014 592 5480 or email rustenburg@smec.com.
UWP Consulting Engineers, tel +27 14 597 1223 or email friedrichs@uwp.co.za.
Phatwe Consulting Engineers, Peter Mashaba, tel +27 14 594 2912, fax +27 14 597 0758 or email mashaba.phatwe@telkomsa.net.