City establishes Vehicle Operating Company to manage Bus Rapid Transit system
On January 29, the city and its stakeholders celebrated a milestone of a successfully completed Phase 1A corridor of the BRT system, dubbed Harambee.
The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) and the local taxi industry as its stakeholder are shifting gears and levelling up to establish a permanent Vehicle Operating Company (VOC) to manage its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
In 2019, over 900 minibus/ taxi operators accountable for 2 300 taxis belonging to various local taxi associations underwent a registration process as a build up to the establishment of the permanent VOC.
This means, after successfully completing the negotiations, the VOC will be fully in charge of the BRT system operations and the CoE will oversee the system.
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Now, all the concerned parties have mutually agreed to see the city’s BRT system grow in leaps and bounds by committing to engage in negotiations to establish a permanent vehicle operating company to oversee operations and continuously provide a reliable, safe, and affordable public transport system.
The negotiations will commence in earnest at the beginning of February.
“As the city, together with the taxi industry, we anticipate the negotiations will get underway from February, and we are optimistic that they will be concluded in time to ensure that we fast-track the expansion of the Harambee services to other areas of the city,” said MMC for Transport and Planning the city, Andile Mngwevu.
He said the negotiations will also touch on the Phase 1A compensation, which will lead to furthering Phases 1B and 1C of the Harambee operations.
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On January 29, the city and its stakeholders celebrated a milestone of a successfully completed Phase 1A corridor of the BRT system, dubbed Harambee.
Mngwevu stated the Phase 1A corridor BRT system currently operates north-south, from Thembisa to Kempton Park and the OR Tambo International Airport and surrounding areas.
The main corridor runs from Thembisa, to RTJ Namane Drive, through to Zuurfontein Road, via Pretoria Road and Jones Road.
“The Harambee bus service has been on the growth path for years now, having started with a fleet of eight buses in October 2017 and now boasting 56 top-of-the-range buses,” said Mngwevu.
