South Africa’s integrated rapid public transport networks (IRPTNs) are still largely underdeveloped and officials are still learning lessons along the way.

During city-specific sessions at the Southern Africa Transport Conference, last week, Tshwane bus service A Re Yeng acting director Ruth Motasa said the success of any bus rapid transit (BRT) system, such as A Re Yeng, would only be realised if there was an understanding that it should service the people that impact the economy.

“When we look at rolling out BRTs, we also need to consider the future and how it will impact future generations,” she said.

The City of Tshwane envisions the city as being a leading global capital, with the BRT considered a catalyst to facilitating economic growth.

Motasa said challenges that A Re Yeng had experienced to date included the industry transition from minibus taxis alone to an integrated bus transportation system, including both the minibus and bus stakeholders.

Other challenges included infrastructure costs and universal access. The city has developed a BRT optimisation strategy to overcome these problems. 

The A Re Yeng system was launched in December 2014, with the start of Line 2A – from the Tshwane central business district (CBD) to Hatfield – followed by the launch of Line 1A – from Wonderboom to the CBD – in January 2017. The system has two complementary routes and four feeder routes.

The planned Phase 1 and 2 network design comprised three trunk line services and numerous feeder services supplemented by a comprehensive nonmotorised transport network.

A Re Yeng’s five-year plan included building interim transfer facilities, doing signal upgrades and building more capital park bridges.

To date, 21 538 km of bus lanes have been built for Line 1 and 2, with seven stations completed along Line 2A and five stations along Line 1A.

Motasa said a taxi transfer facility was currently under construction at Wonderboom station and a transfer facility was being designed for construction at the Menlyn and Denneboom stations.

A Re Yeng has 114 buses in use, servicing about 12 000 passengers a day.

Motasa outlined that lessons learnt during the implementation of the A Re Yeng BRT were mainly around stakeholder engagement, using simple designs and using relevant marketing platforms to communicate information about the progress of the project.

“We are not yet where we need to be, but we have taken stock of what needs to be done to achieve universal access for BRT."

RUSTENBURG
Meanwhile, Rustenburg Rapid Transport business development manager Obed Moleele said the city’s IRPTN was being planned and built. 

He added that substantial decreases in subsidies have had a material impact on the roll-out of infrastructure planning for the system. The city subsequently had to scale down its bus fleet and optimise its routes to ensure the system could proceed.

The IRPTN will stretch around 50 km, with 18 stations, on two planned trunk routes. The city has built 26 km of the network and expects the service will do around 60 000 trips a month with a fleet of 30 buses. 

Moleele said the most challenging aspects for the roll-out of the system has been the limited available space in the CBD to work with, old town-planning schemes in the city requiring rezoning and unrest by small businesses and labour.

CAPE TOWN
Further, City of Cape Town transport planning head Keresha Naidoo said the city’s IRPTN network had its first route on Phase 1 in operation in 2010, while the network had progressed to the implementation of Phase 2 this year. 

The IRPTN spans 44 routes, 42 stations, 700 stops and transports 1.5-million people a month.

Naidoo noted that one of the biggest concerns with the system had been safety, with passengers not feeling safe to walk to certain bus stops. This resulted in new stops being planned and additional routes being opened at night.

The city had also experienced damage to infrastructure, with extensive vandalism at stops, which required it to install robust and resilient infrastructure.

Naidoo said the city realised the need for collaboration with other departments and initiatives, such as economic programmes, social upliftment initiatives and programmes to reduce crime.

Going forward, the city will continue to consider the role of different transport modes and build on the efficiencies relevant to various modes.

DURBAN
Public transport system Go!Durban project executive Mabuyi Mhlanga, meanwhile, said the city had learned from the challenges experienced by other cities.

The planned system currently provides for eight road-based corridors, one rail corridor and a network of feeder services.  

Phase 1 will entail the construction of five corridors, to be implemented and launched by 2024. Financial constraints have, however, caused delays.

Mhlanga noted that the city was uncertain about the roll-out of the rail network, owing to internal challenges at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.

“We have learned from other cities that there is a low cost recovery ratio on feeder corridors, impacting on the network’s financial sustainability, so we have rationalised the feeder network and came up with a prioritised feeder network that will support the main corridors.”

Go!Durban will be implemented corridor by corridor, as a solution to the funding constraints.