THERE are almost four million people living in Johannesburg, and many need to travel into the inner city to work. Most have to use some form of public transport, either taxis or buses, with the rest making use of private vehicles.
As a result the City has to deal with congestion and pollution, among other challenges, in the inner city.
To counter this, Johannesburg has initiated its Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a public transport system with dedicated lanes that will complement existing and new taxi, rail and metro bus schemes. The BRT will consist of over 300 kilometres of bus lanes traversing the inner city and surrounding suburbs and townships.
With Rea Vaya, commuters will be able to switch seamlessly from one form of transport to another using a single ticket. Phase one of the project has already begun and will be operational by 2009.
Rea Vaya will be fully operational for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
Complementing the BRT, a giant integrated transport facility is planned for the Park Station precinct. Consisting of infrastructure for road and rail transport, an international shopping centre and conference facilities, this precinct will develop into one of the busiest transport nodes in the country.
The City will also rehabilitate all inner city railway stations over the next few years, with upgrades designed to encourage spill-off effects into peripheral areas.
Another public transport development that will result in a large change to commuting is the Gautrain. Although a Gauteng province initiative, the Gautrain will be fully integrated into Johannesburg’s public transport systems, with BRT links at Park, Rosebank and Sandton stations.
The City expects that these combined measures will drastically reduce the 1,8 million registered vehicles on its roads.
It also aims to improve the quality of off-street parking through extensive upgrades to parkades. At the same time it will look at managing on-street parking more effectively. This plan will extend to formal and informal taxi ranks.
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