Tshwane to get rapid bus system for 2010

Pretoria - The Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality has become the second city to announce plans to improve and promote the use of their public transport system ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The city opened the first phase of it's broader Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) initiative on Monday, which aims to provide faster, safer and more reliable transport than current public transport, making it more affordable.

The City of Johannesburg last week unveiled a similar project, named "Rea Vaya", which means "we are moving".

Government has planned for host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein, to have such efficient public transport systems.

It involves the construction of "bus way corridors" on dedicated lanes and modernised technology.

The first phase, which will service people from Soshanguve and Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, and Mamelodi, east of the city will cost an estimated R1.9 billion.

Speaking at a ceremony to unveil the BRT initiative, Tshwane Member of Mayoral Committee Subesh Pillay said the BRT would help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, cut travelling time and attract more business to the city.

He said the city chose the model after considering a number of other possible solutions, including the monorail and underground rail system.

According to the minister a group of officials and stakeholders in the city undertook a study trip to Colombia and France to look into similar BRT systems there.

He highlighted the importance of the BRT system in light of the ever-increasing traffic congestion which often brings the city to a standstill during peak-hour traffic.

"We decided to develop the system to address the city's growing problems caused by traffic congestion, pollution and private car use.

"It is important to develop a sustainable and integrated public transport system, and critically the BRT should integrate with the Gautrain and other existing Metrorail services," Mr Pillay explained.

He said where there was synergy, particularly in the construction phase, the city would work together with Johannesburg to deliver their individual projects.

Construction of the infrastructure in Tshwane is scheduled to begin towards the end of 2008 and trial runs are scheduled to be made in late in 2009.

The system is expected to start full operation early in 2010, in time for the soccer extravaganza.

Representatives of stakeholders, including the metered taxis, minibus taxis and education transport services have thrown their weight behind the initiative but called on the city to involve them in decision-making.

"We acknowledge that the city has planned well to ensure that it has an efficient and reliable public transport system.

"However, we want to emphasise that we should also be involved in decision-making processes and the implementation phase, as we were involved in the planning," said Mosa Thusi of the Tshwane Metered Taxi council.

He stressed that the minibus and metered taxi industries should be the owners of the BRT because the system was going to impact negatively on their operations and business.

David Tlailane of the Greater Tshwane Regional Taxi Council also emphasised that the taxi operators in all the phases had to ensure that they became the major stakeholders of the project.

Sipho Phenyane of the Greater Tshwane Education Services also said the members did not want to become just feeders to the BRT but they wanted to be partners.