The Ekurhuleni bus rapid transit (BRT) system, called Harambee, has been extended from Tembisa to OR Tambo International Airport, says Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mzwandile Masina.

The Harambee project is part of the overarching objective to develop an integrated public transport network to connect the nine towns and the 17 townships in Ekurhuleni. A further 32 buses will be added to the service by February, he adds.

The buses are universally accessible, including for disabled citizens, and the BRT system will be integrated with rail, including the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and Gautrain rail services, and taxi services.

The Harambee starter service already in operation transports 6 500 people a month between Tembisa and Isando.

Meanwhile, a Europay/MasterCard/Visa card pilot project is being conducted this month.

Fifty commuters will receive Harambee prepaid cards and the pilot project is aimed at testing the veracity, capacity and compliance of the systems.

“The modernised fare system will be rolled out in phases over the next few months. Ticket selling points will be rolled out in Hospital View, at the Rabasotho hall and at Station 12, in Tembisa, as well as at the Kempton Park Civic Centre and OR Tambo International Airport. Two mobile kiosks to sell Harambee cards will also move along the BRT route.”

The focus is on supporting intermodal connectivity and supporting economic growth and development, he explains.

“The Harambee project connects citizens to new job opportunities, to better educational services . . . and now, thanks to the new extensions, to new medical opportunities and international travel options.

“By connecting to OR Tambo International Airport, the Harambee service will not only connect the citizens of Tembisa and Kempton Park to national and international travel, but will also connect them to various job and trading opportunities.”

While taxi services are unlikely to adopt cashless cards as a form of payment in the short term, the move to a cashless payment environment was anticipated in the medium term, Kempton-Tembisa-Vosloorus-Rieger Park (KTVR) bus service chairperson Kenneth Mtshali says.

The KTVR bus service is a public–private partnership company established with Ekurhuleni taxi associations that operated the buses on the routes.

The starter service, which uses eight buses, starts at Tembisa Hospital, on Flint Mazibuko street, heads south-west and turns onto Rev RTJ Namane drive, then onto Andrew Mapheto drive and onto Zuurfontein avenue.

The route then heads south on Isando road over the R24 highway, with stops at Diesel street, in Isando, before returning through Quality street and Brewery street and following the same route back to Tembisa Hospital.

“The Harambee starter service is a small section of the bigger picture and, throughout the year, the service has continued to steadily increase. “The impact of the system can already be seen, as it carries people to and from their homes in Tembisa and their workplaces in Isando,” Masina says.

The new extension will see ten buses added to serve the extended route this month, which runs from Isando road onto CR Swart drive through Kempton Park, down Voortrekker road, and onto the Cargo Service road and Airport road, stopping at the platform at OR Tambo International Airport.

Heading back, the buses use the Boksburg South exit, turn onto Jones road and travel back onto Cargo Service road, returning to Tembisa Hospital.

The project has been affected by construction delays, the mayor admits, but will eventually connect Tembisa, Kempton Park, Boksburg and Vosloorus, east of Alberton.

“[Ekurhuleni] has invested more than R2-billion in the project so far and, even though we acknowledge delays, we appreciate the progress made and have adopted recovery plans.”

Harambee is a Swahili word meaning ‘synergy’.