The feasibility study on expanding the Gautrain commuter rail system from Lanseria through Honeydew to Sandton, build an additional line from Mamelodi, north-east of Pretoria, to Naledi, west of Johannesburg, and extend the service from OR Tambo International Airport to Boksburg will be completed by March next year, says Gautrain Management Company CEO Jack van der Merwe.

The expansion could result in 200 km of new railway line and eight new stations being built. The expansion will form part of the 25-year Gauteng Integrated Transport Master Plan and will integrate with the new Ekurhuleni bus rapid transit (BRT) system, called Harambee.

Construction on the Harambee BRT system has started, says Ekurhuleni BRT Development Opportunities head of department Yolisa Mashilwane, and will result in 56 km of bus lanes built from Tembisa Hospital through Kempton Park and Rhodesfield, past the airport to Boksburg and then to Vosloorus.

Public transport in the Ekurhuleni municipality is disconnected between the nine towns and 17 townships that constitute the municipality. The master plan aims to help develop a seamless public transport system. Automated fare collection is also being developed to provide seamless intermodal transport. The system will be managed from the rapid public transport nerve centre to be built near the airport as part of the Aerotropolis smart city catalytic project, she explains.

Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele and Gauteng transport MEC Ismail Vadi launched the Ekurhuleni BRT system at Germiston lake in November. Harambee is a Swahili word meaning synergy, and reflects the mixture of South and Southern African cultures in the agricultural, industrial and former mining areas of the municipality. Vadi announced that an intermodal facility would be built between Ivory Park and Tembisa to link the Rea Vaya and Harambee BRT systems.

The Gauteng Integrated Transport Master Plan supports the Presidential Strategic Infrastructure Programme 2 Gauteng–Free State–Durban Eastern Corridor, and aims to increase the population density of Ekurhuleni to 80 people per hectare. Developments along the R21 highway between the airport and the southern suburbs of Tshwane aim to help achieve this, says Van der Merwe.

Densification requires an effective, strategic public transport network and road network, as well as an integrated transportation plan to ensure that mobility or logistics are not negatively affected. About one in three journeys in Ekurhuleni, from origin to destination, are still made on foot, highlighting the need for improved public transport, and nonmotorised transport, such as bicycles, will also be accommodated, says Van der Merwe.

“The Harambee rapid public transport system enables us to develop various precincts more effectively, owing to good mobility of people. The BRT route can potentially be developed into a development corridor and the aim is to provide WiFi connectivity along the route. The capital investment framework for the project conforms with policy in Ekurhuleni to use transport corridors as catalytic projects,” says Mashilwane.