Responding in writing to a recent Parliamentary question by the Democratic Alliance, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has provided an update for each of the country’s 13 bus rapid transport (BRT) systems, noting that each network is at a different stage of development.

In Johannesburg, Phase 1A and Phase 1B of the city’s Rea Vaya BRT system were operational and were carrying a combined 40 000 passenger trips a day, while the finalisation of the Phase 1B compensation offer to affected operators was still in progress.

Phase 1C was expected to be operational in 2016 and construction on this route had started.

“The Department of Transport (DoT) is liaising with the city about improving its daily management of the services, including ensuring that the related electronic systems are functioning adequately,” she commented.

In Ekurhuleni, operational, business, finance and marketing plans for Phase 1 BRT services had been completed, while preliminary and detailed design plans for Phase 1A between Tembisa and Kempton Park were complete.

Construction of the dedicated bus lane was currently under way in Tembisa, with Phase 1A services expected to start in 2016.

The City of Tshwane, meanwhile, was planning to operate an “inception service” from the city’s central business district (CBD) to Hatfield in 2014, after which new routes and vehicles would be added in 2015.

This would complete Phase 1 operations, which would run from Soshanguve to the CBD and onwards to Hatfield, Menlyn and Mamelodi.

In Cape Town, Phase 1A trunk services from Atlantis to the Civic Station, in the CBD, were operational and the Tableview leg had been operational since 2011.

The Du Noon service started in April, followed by the opening of the N2 Express service between Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and the CBD, in July.

BRT services between the Cape Town International Airport and the CBD had been operational since 2010, while the feeder services between the Civic Station and destinations such as Gardens, Waterfront, Sea Point and Hout Bay were progressively opened over the last two years.

“Planning for the Phase 2 services between the south-east, Wynburg and Claremont is well in hand. The city is close to carrying 50 000 average weekday passenger trips by August 2014,” Peters noted.

In eThekwini, comprehensive “wall-to-wall” network plans for the full network had been completed and construction had started on the first corridor between Bridge City and Pinetown.

The city had also rolled out its electronic fare collection system, which was applied on its current municipal bus service.

“Unlike other cities, which have rolled out the BRT on a corridor basis, eThekwini has undertaken detailed planning for the entire network.

“This process has taken seven years and the DoT is dissatisfied with this performance, particularly in view of consistent underspending of the grants,” she commented, adding that eThekwini had made a “firm commitment” to speed up development from 2014/15.

All planning for the Rustenburg BRT network had, meanwhile, been completed, with construction of the 5 km bus lane from the CBD to Tlhabane now complete.

Construction of the 7 km bus lane to Boitekong was under way. The remainder of the network would comprise conventional buses and feeder routes, with some priority measures for public transport. Negotiations with bus and minibus operators to form operating companies were ongoing.

In Polokwane, all necessary planning had been completed but for the detailed design plans, which were currently under way, while in Mangaung, the city had completed a draft operational plan and was expected to finalise detailed operational and financial planning in 2014/15.

In the Eastern Cape, while a draft operational plan had been approved by the Buffalo City council in 2008, plans had been delayed for over four years owing to administrative delays and a legal challenge to the city’s procurement of a consortium to do the detailed planning and design.

“The city is in discussions with National Treasury with regard to appealing the High Court decision to award the tender to the second-place bidder. DoT liaises with National Treasury with regard to facilitating a speedy resolution of this matter,” said Peters.

The nearby Nelson Mandela Bay was also gearing up to roll out its Phase 1 service to Cleary Park later this year with the full service operational in 2015.

The city of Mbombela had also experienced delays in the roll out of its BRT network as a result of ongoing negotiations with provincial authorities around the restructuring of the currently subsidised bus services.

“In terms of the National Land Transport Act, the city takes over from the province to become the new contract authority. The city experienced administrative delays in procuring construction contractors but has committed to speedy implementation in the current year,” she indicated.

In Msunduzi, the full set of integrated rapid public transport network plans had been completed and the municipality was currently undertaking detailed design plans. It would be ready to start network development in 2015.