Name and Location
A Re Yeng – Tshwane Rapid Transit (TRT) system, Gauteng, South Africa.

Client
City of Tshwane.

Project Description
The Tshwane bus rapid transit (BRT) system, know as A Re Yeng, or Let’s Go, forms part of the City of Tshwane’s 2055 Growth and Development Strategy.  The City of Tshwane has established a set of objectives aimed at transforming the public transport system by providing high-quality, yet affordable, public transport.

The 56 km of trunk route, featuring BRT buses in dedicated lanes stopping at dedicated stations, will run from Wonderboom to Denneboom, with passengers transported to trunk route stations using complementary or feeder routes.

The entire BRT system will link Kopanong, in the north-west of Tshwane, to Denneboom, in the north-east, following a u-shaped route and traversing the inner city.

TRT Phase 1 will be completed in five infrastructure construction phases.

The 7 km, Phase 1A leg of the BRT system will run from Nana Sita, in the central business district (CBD), to Hatfield.

It is expected that Phase 1A of the system will ramp up to transporting 7 800 passengers a day, with the final system running at 136 000 passenger trips a day in 2017. During this phase, about 30 buses will operate with and provide direct services between the CBD and Hatfield, with buses running every seven minutes along this trunk corridor. Feeders will also serve the corridor, running at 15-minute headways, and docking with the trunk stations at Nana Sita 1, Sunnyside 1 and Sunnyside 2 stations.

Phase 1B will run from Hatfield to Menlyn and Phase 1C from the CBD to Rainbow Junction.

The Tshwane BRT comprises 18 m articulated buses, each carrying 90 people, and 12 m buses, each carrying 60 people.

An estimated 174 buses will be procured for the system and will comply with the latest European emission standards. The city has further approved a decision to roll out compressed natural gas fuel for at least 30% of the TRT bus fleet, after Phase 1A. This is part of the city’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions while driving sustainability.

The low-floor buses are easily accessible to children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The City of Tshwane has chosen two designs for the stations.

Memory Box concept stations will be located in the CBD. They will include imagery and information on the historic buildings surrounding them.

The Retro-Tram design will be used for the stations located outside the CBD. The concept is intended to evoke the imagery of the city’s historical tram lines, realised in a modern style.

Payment on the BRT system will be by smartcard and should be compatible with other public-transport smartcard systems.

Value
The City of Tshwane has secured R3.2-billion in funding from national government over the next three years.

Duration
Construction for Phase 1A of the city’s TRT system, which will be rolled out in 2014, has started. The system is officially on track according to the milestones and timelines outlined for the Hatfield station project, for which the sod-turning ceremony took place in July 2012.

Phase 1B – Hatfield (University road) to Menlyn, or the BRT line 2B – is expected to be completed in March 2016.

Phase 1C – the CBD (Scheiding street) to Menlyn, or the BRT line 1A – is scheduled for completion in August 2015, and the Rainbow Junction to Akasia-Kopanong section, or BRT line 1B, in October 2016.

Phase 1D – Menlyn to Denneboom station, or BRT line 2C – is scheduled for completion in June 2017.

Latest Developments
The City of Tshwane has started commissioning the inception phase of its BRT system, following the delivery of the first of the initial 30 buses on April 29.

The remaining 29 rigid 12-m-long inception buses will be phased in by May 31, as 48 taxi drivers, recruited from the 75 who applied for the bus driver positions, undergo vigorous training to handle the new public transport vehicles.
The buses for the BRT system’s inception services started coming off the production line on April 14.

Volvo Southern Africa, in partnership with Marcopolo South Africa, has been contracted to produce 131 buses – 85 rigid 12 m and 46 articulated 18 m buses – to the City of Tshwane by 2016.

The 12 m Volvo B9L low-floor bus chassis with Marcopolo Gran Viale bodies boast clean-burning diesel-powered Euro V engines – the first of its kind to be manufactured by a Volvo/Marcopolo consortium in South Africa.

The chassis kits of the A Re Yeng buses are assembled at Volvo’s completely knocked-down plant, in KwaZulu-Natal, after which they are road freighted to Marcopolo, in Germiston, where the bodybuilding takes place.

Bus operating company Tshwane Rapid Transit (TRT)  – an interim body representing affected bus and taxi operators – have bought the buses while the City of Tshwane has supplied the bus specifications to match the A Re Yeng service and stations.

The Tshwane Bus Services depot is being upgraded for use as an interim depot, where the buses will be housed and all maintenance, refuelling and administration will take place.

The A Re Yeng control centre, which controls all communications linked to the A Re Yeng trunk line, will be established at the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.

The buses, which will be operated under a “high-tech” system and will rely “heavily” on an intelligence transport system, as well as provide free WiFi services, could accommodate 33 seated passengers and 35 standing passengers.

Meanwhile, negotiations to ensure the inclusion of the taxi industry and the prevention of displacement are still under way, with the recruitment and training of taxi drivers who operated the Menlyn, Elarduspark and Pretoria stations’ taxis, starting in May.

The taxi drivers, who are sourced from a database of operators expected to be impacted by the introduction of A Re Yeng in the inception phase, will complete their training by the end of June.

The training of the drivers will include an induction regarding the TRT system, working conditions of bus drivers, procedures and policies of the TRT, customer care, BRT operations and compliance with contractual obligations.

More drivers will be recruited and trained as the next phases of the BRT project progresses.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lonerock Construction (BRT Line 1A: Roadway – Pretoria street to Venter street); Mivami Construction (BRT Line 1A: Roadway – Venter street to Louis Trichardt street); Vharanani Properties and Boitshoko Road Surfacing joint venture (BRT Line 1A: Roadway – Louis Trichardt street to Rainbow Junction); seven contractors from the Contractor Development Programme (BRT Line 1C: NMT Facilities  – Kopanong station); Superway Construction (BRT Line 2A: Roadway  – Nana Sita street); Bophelong Construction (BRT Line 2A: Roadway – Kotze street to Lynnwood/ University road) and Bona Consulting (urban traffic control).

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
TRT project leader Lungile Madlala, tel +27 12 358 4091, fax 086 241 8303 or email  lungilem@tshwane.gov.za.