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There are plenty of benefits in Rea Vaya for the taxi industry, says the City, while the industry explores its options for the future.
THE taxi industry is planning to be a major stakeholder in Rea Vaya when it starts operating in 2009.
In turn, the City of Johannesburg is committed to providing as many job opportunities as possible in the new transport system to current public transport operators. These include taxi groups, Metrobus and private bus companies.
It would ideally like to reserve Rea Vaya bus operations for current public transport operators should they decide to transform in this regard, confirmed Rehana Moosajee, the member of the mayoral committee for transport, at a three-day workshop with the taxi industry leadership.
The workshop was held in Vanderbijlpark from 23 to 25 July.
"Rea Vaya will complement existing and new taxi, rail and Metrobus schemes," Moosajee said.
According to the City, benefits to the taxi industry will be substantial. These include the opportunity to replace ageing taxi fleets with brand-new buses; better working conditions; many new job opportunities with guaranteed long-term operating contracts; and the opportunity to own shares in a company.
The taxi industry holds about 72 percent of the current public transport market.
Corporate image
For the moment though, the industry is still getting its head around how it will transform to be able to give a professional, dedicated service to Rea Vaya.
"The project presents a huge challenge to the local taxi industry in terms of its future status and the business interests of its members," said the joint Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) steering committee, representing Top Six Management and Greater Johannesburg Regional Taxi Council (GJRTC), the two industry bodies.
Following the workshop, where the industry deliberated its future with Rea Vaya, the steering committee held a press briefing at the Johannesburg Roads Agency offices on 28 July.
To start, the industry will have to be corporatised; this in itself is going to take a long time, they admit.
"This is a brand-new concept to us. For us there is still a lot to learn before we can say we are for it or not," said Eric Motshwane, the chairperson of the GJRTC.
The committee indicated that a lot of uncertainty about Rea Vaya and fear of the unknown gripped the taxi industry. For one, the industry was still uncertain exactly how it would fit into the business model.
"We are worried about the end product. The taxi industry should not be worse off economically than it is today," added Sicelo Mabaso, the chairperson of Top Six.
Owning Rea Vaya
According to the City, Rea Vaya will essentially be a joint initiative. It will own the infrastructure and facilities and will play a regulatory and system management role.
Private companies will be contracted to provide the operational functions, which include running the bus fleets, fare collection, managing facilities and maintenance.
This will be done through operating licences owned by private companies. "The operating companies will, in turn, be owned by the current operators, of whom the majority would be originating from the minibus-taxi industry," the City confirmed.
A more efficient network of buses, Rea Vaya will bring an estimated 46 000 new jobs into the system. "There will be significant job creation within the Rea Vaya BRT system - at least equal to or greater than the existing number of affected taxi and bus employees."
Mabaso said the industry intended to work in all three corridors of the Rea Vaya transport system - along the main trunk routes, feeder routes and in complementary services.
Although this will entail a shift in how things are done, change will not mean a loss of business. "Looking at the current status quo, we are expecting a minimum ownership of 70 percent of Rea Vaya," confirmed Babu Maharaj, the chief executive officer of Top Six Management.
Ideally, the taxi industry would like to have a 100 percent stake in Rea Vaya, but it is well aware that it does not have such a representation in the current public transport system. It was a question of aiming high so that it didn't end up with too little, confirmed Darko Skrbinsek, the BRT technical support specialist to the taxi industry.
Continuous engagement
Negotiations and discussions regarding Rea Vaya have been taking place between the City and the taxi industry since the beginning of 2007.
In August of that year, the mayor, City and government officials and members of the steering committee visited Bogota and Pereira in Colombia, in South America, to study the TransMilenio bus system.
"There is a relationship. We engage with each other to see how we will fit in the industry," Motshwane confirmed.
In December 2007, Executive Mayor Amos Masondo signed the second of two memorandums of understanding with the taxi industry. These agreements ensure proper inclusion and treatment of the taxi industry in the Rea Vaya planning process.
"It is important to remind ourselves that the taxi industry occupies an important place in our economy," he said.
Transport today
At the moment, taxi operators, Metrobus and other public transport operators ply their trade alongside each other in a metropolis clogged with private vehicles.
With Rea Vaya, a bus system running along dedicated lanes on a frequent timetable, the City hopes to get some of these private vehicle users on to the bus. International experience has shown that a BRT system can attract between 10 and 20 percent of private car users to public transport.
At the same time, competition - especially among different taxi associations - is stiff. Johannesburg is home to some 18 associations, the majority of which are represented through the two regional taxi structures, Top Six and the GJRTC.
There are over 12 000 taxis operating in the city along 1 013 routes. The industry employs about 25 000 drivers, but also creates a lot of indirect jobs in the form of washers, queue marshals and food stall operators.
The steering committee is confident that taxi operators will be able to work together under Rea Vaya because it will be based on giving a committed timetable based service, unlike the demand-based system under which taxis now operate.
"The current situation of sporadic violence will disappear with the new situation purely because taxis will not be competing with each other for market share," Maharaj pointed out.
In the meantime, the taxi industry faces a busy time, with intensive sessions to disseminate information to its members. Drivers will also have to undertake intensive training to give a professional service, and the steering committee is committing substantial time to train taxi drivers in customer care.
"We understand that we are getting into a new business. We will have to transform. We are embracing transformation," Motshwane confirmed.
The first phase of Rea Vaya is scheduled for completion early in 2009. The project is similar to systems operating successfully in cities such as Jakarta, Boston, Sydney and Edinburgh.
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