Consulting engineering company SMEC South Africa is playing a major role in the development of public transport in the Rustenburg area, in the North West province.

The company, formerly Vela VKE, has entered into a joint venture (JV) with UWP Consulting Engineers and Phatwe Consulting Engineers for the Rustenburg Rapid Transport (RRT) system, and construction completion is expected in 2015.

“The SMEC South Africa/UWP/Phatwe JV will be responsible for the design and construction monitoring phases of the North West Corridor and the RRT system in the central business district (CBD). It is estimated the project will cost R640-million and we will use R600-million for the roadway construction, and the remaining R40-million will be used for the bridges,” says SMEC South Africa head of the Rustenburg division Tshepo Matshego.

The JV has been awarded contract A of the RRT project, which involves the development of a public transport route that connects the Rustenburg CBD to Phokeng and areas to the north, reaching well into the Moses Kotane local municipality.

The entire RRT infrastructure project involves the development of new dedicated bus lanes, nonmotorised transport lanes, numerous bus stations – with the required municipal services – a main transfer station, information technology connection and control systems, bus depots and a control centre, in addition to streetlighting.

“The RRT system focuses not only on commuters who will use the buses but also on bettering the roads for pedestrians. One feature of the RRT system is that it promotes the use of nonmotorised transport, which is becoming a trend in South Africa. When building roads in South Africa, we tend to forget about the pedestrians − this is an opportunity for us to include their needs,” he says.

According to Matshego, one of the main objectives of the project is to get taxis, local buses and private-vehicle users to buy into and embrace the RRT system. This will reduce the number of vehicles moving in and out of the major economic route by providing an efficient, reliable and safe public transport and feeder system that connects villages with the trunk routes to the CBD.

“From a traffic point of view, a study has been completed in terms of traffic volumes on that route, as it is an existing road, and we plan to establish whether it is more feasible to add an additional bus lane or use one of the existing lanes,” he adds.

Matshego highlights that, through the JV, the design of a section of the trunk route, consisting of new concrete bus lanes, and the rehabilitation of existing mixed-traffic lanes were completed within five months – four months ahead of schedule.

“We started with the concept in October 2011 and the tender was advertised in March 2012. During that time, we had to fast-track our design to ensure that the muni- cipality met its budgetary obligations without compromising cost-effectiveness and quality outputs.

“We are fast-tracking a portion of the project, which is called Phase 1 and is located just outside the CBD. It is a 5 km section of roadway that is currently under construction and is about 20% complete.”

Work on Phase 1 of the North West Corridor started in June 2012. Construction will take 15 months and the estimated completion date of Phase 1 is October 2013.

Matshego believes that the RRT system will be one of the best in the country.

“Having worked on a number of previous bus rapid transit systems across the country, SMEC South Africa and its partners have gained extensive insight into maximising the efficiency of the system, while regenerating the region with new infrastructure,” he concludes.