VISITORS GET ADVICE ON BRT
Monday, 17 October 2011
Over the next few years, Dar es Salaam will be building its own Bus Rapid Transit system, and it sent a delegation to get some advice and input from Joburg.
SUCCESSES, advice and best practice on the road to Rea Vaya were discussed with a delegation from Dar es Salaam, which is setting up its own Bus Rapid Transit system.
The Tanzanian city, the economic centre of the country as well as its richest city, has a population of more than 2,6 million. Its BRT system is already in the planning stage, with a completion date set for 2015.
Jacques van Zijl, the Rea Vaya project manager, and Charles Block, the director of infrastructure, met the delegation at the Johannesburg Roads Agency offices in the inner city. According to the group, the aim of the tour was to build lines of communication between Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam.
They were here to learn about Joburg's urban transport policy, to learn about easing urban transport issues, discuss the challenges faced by Dar es Salaam, and find practical applications to adopt from Johannesburg.
O
perators answer questions from delegates on how they communicate with bus drivers on different routes.
Among the visitors was the city's project manager for its BRT, Ladislaus Bigambo, and Jumble Katala, the transportation and planning manager for Dar Rapid Transit Agency.
Van Zijl spoke about the implementation of Rea Vaya, giving a history from its beginning up until the last stage of the first phase. Block took them through the processes of developing infrastructure and answered questions about the choice of designs.
The Dar es Salaam delegates in a presentation on how to implement the Bus Rapid Transport system.
The Tanzanians asked why air conditioners were not installed at the stations. In reply, Block said it was expensive to maintain air conditioners and people were often not satisfied. Some wanted them to be switched off while others wanted them to be switched on.
Stations used natural lighting and natural ventilation to moderate temperature.
There were also some words of advice to encourage the Tanzanians to avoid the mistakes that had been made in Joburg, which had had to learn the hard way. Van Zijl encouraged them to build a specialised road dedicated to the system, as the buses were heavier than normal.
In Johannesburg, Rea Vaya had dedicated lanes, mostly in the middle of the road. Block said this was an advantage because Joburgers tended to damage the road.
The visitors also learned how the system operates. Van Zijl explained that the City designed and built all infrastructures, such as depots, roads and installed control centre in the JRA building. Private contractors managed the ticketing system, cash collection and station management.
Security was among the matters discussed. Van Zijl said that through the control centre, it was possible to see everything that was happening in each station as they had CCTV cameras.
To ensure effective service, commuters received route planning information and demand was monitored at stations so that more buses could be sent to those stations where there were many commuters.
Through the control centre, the City also communicated with station management and with passengers at stations through messaging signage and verbally.
The control centre also operated automatic vehicle locators that used GPS (global positioning system) to track buses; a driver management system to manage drivers' handling of the buses; as well as scheduling systems for drivers, their buses and operators.
Also on the agenda during the visit, which took place on 11 October, was a discussion about working with the 10 taxi associations affected by the Phase 1A routes.
Some 585 minibus taxis were displaced by the route. They were scrapped, and in return their owners got shares in the company that operates Phase 1A, PioTrans.
Van Zijl said that when the phase was launched there were a lot of challenges. Some minibus taxi associations resisted the system and embarked on a protest, but issues were later resolved.
A visit was also undertaken to the control centre, where some of the visitors' questions were answered by operators at the centre. They also showed the delegation how the control centre worked.
One of the operators allowed one of the visitors to communicate with a bus driver who was on his way from Soweto. Questions they asked of the control centre operators included, how did they see if a bus was late and what happened when heavy traffic caused delays.
The operator said that their control room is right next to the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Division (JMPD) control room and in the case of heavy traffic they report to the division who then rush to the location to serve as points men to ease the traffic.
To conclude their tour, the visitors took a ride on a Rea Vaya bus to some of the biggest stations, like Soccer City station that is next to Africa's largest stadium, FNB Stadium.
Source:
Rea Vaya - Visitors get advice on BRT