Unprecedented public interest was shown on Friday as the first four A Re Yeng buses left the Mahatma Gandhi station on the corner of Jorissen and Bourke streets.
They could easily have gotten a traffic ticket for overloading on the inaugural journey.
It seemed like everyone wanted a first-hand experience of how it feels to be commuted in an ultra modern bus fully equipped with air conditioning, Wi-Fi, comfortable seats and electronic gadgets which warn the driver of approaching traffic as well as traffic at his rear and sides.
The suspension system guarantees a bump-free ride and the bus features a dedicated priority seats reserved for the pregnant, infirm as well as children. There’s also space for a wheelchair. The immense interest indicated the project more than warranted the long wait for the first of a fleet of 171 buses which will eventually criss-cross the whole of the metro area.
A speech by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters was read on his behalf by a senior official.
The minister said some finishing touches to the project remained, additional work in complying with national standards and ongoing testing and training. Though the first buses will be operating from Monday, this would be part of a testing phase.
City manager Jason Ngobeni said the rest of November would be a testing phase and A Re Yeng would be fully operational from the first of December.
Peters said: “We have found it is vital in order to ensure that all staff, systems and road users are able to engage with a fully functional, safe and secure system when it is given the green light to commence live operations to the public.”
He said his department had invested 2.3 billion into Tshwane between 2005 and June 2014, both for the 2010 World Cup as well as the A Re Yeng system. About half had been spent on A Re Yeng.
Money permitting, the transport department would invest a further R3 billion in the phase one A Re Yeng rollout which would comprise over 60 km of dedicated lanes and up to 50 stations between Soshanguve and the CBD and from the CBD to Hatfield Menlyn and Mamelodi.
By 2017, the project would have created more than 5 000 construction job opportunities and around 1000 direct operating jobs.
Turning to transport in general, the minister said about R20 billion had so far been invested in road-based public transport systems in 13 cities across the country. In investment of another 18 billion in the three years up to June 2017 was in the pipeline.
“These funds are municipal conditional grants from the department of transport to 13 cities for purposes of implementing improved public transport systems that are integrated with the new rail rolling stock and infrastructure that the department is funding.”
The government was worried in 2010/11 when the Tswane Metro was falling behind schedule and other cities were developing their integrated public network systems.
“However, the metro has really made excellent progress in catching up over the past three years and we are hoping that by 2017 city will be running the best BRT and integrated transport network in the country as it is befitting for a capital city to do,” Peters said.
The metro’s target was to get the full phase one running over 60 km of dedicated lanes stretching all the way from Kompanong station in Soshanguve to the CBD and on to Hatfield, Menlyn and Mamelodi.
Peters added: “I’m also pleased that you have tried to accommodate people with special needs and users with disabilities and that we have also made an attempt to upgrade sidewalks along the route and are planning to construct the network of cycle lanes as well.”
Ngobeni said RE Yeng tickets would be affordable. The cheapest was R8 and the most expensive R24, depending on the distance travelled.
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