The City of Johannesburg on Wednesday announced the names of the two bus manufacturers which would supply buses for Phase 1A of the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, in a contract worth R391-million.

Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo said during a press conference in Johannesburg that Scania South Africa would supply and deliver the chassis and engines for 143 BRT buses.

Marcopolo South Africa would supply the bus bodies.

All the buses would be delivered before the start of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in June, but would be fully imported from Brazil and not locally manufactured.

While all the manufacturers that had tendered for the project, including Scania and Marcopolo, had the ability to assemble and manufacture the buses locally, the tight timelines to the Confederations Cup had made this impossible.

Subsequent orders would, however, be locally manufactured.

The manufacturers would deliver 41 articulated buses, which could transport up to 112 passengers and 102 complementary buses that could transport up to 81 passengers.

The manufacturers have also made the necessary provisions for disabled persons in wheel chairs to use the buses.

The buses would all have Euro IV diesel engines, with Euro III engines being the minimum standard recommended in the national specifications, said Masondo.

Nine manufacturers had initially submitted tenders to a request for information issued by the city, of which five were shortlisted to participate in the request for proposals phase.

Only four manufacturers had made final submissions.

The R2-billion Rea Vaya BRT system will stretch 94 km and make use of dedicated median lanes on current roads to transport passengers in the City of Johannesburg.

Plans to launch the public transport system were first announced late in 2006, with the BRT system expected reduce the worsening congestion in the city.

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