connect businesses, people and places in a sustainable
and cost-effective manner and, through this, improve the
standard of living and quality of life of all the city's
inhabitants and the overall competitiveness and growth of
the city's economy. “This strategy is not just about transport,
it aims to overcome and undo apartheid spatial planning,
which deliberately caused urban sprawl and to link the
disparate areas of Johannesburg,” says Rehana.
Phase 1A of the project has already been completed and
connects the densely populated township of Soweto with
downtown Johannesburg. This 25 km route has 33 station
stops, and includes a number of feeder routes, joining from
the east and west and currently runs from Thokoza Park in
Soweto, to Ellis Park and includes routes through the CBD.
Rehana's face lights up as she tells stories of
people who never before having set foot in Soweto,
now traveling safely and reliably into the area.
Phase 1B of the project is now under way and will help to
connect people from disadvantages areas to healthcare
hubs and educational institutions such as the University of
Johannesburg and Wits.
The long term plan is for the Rea Vaya to cover
more than 300 kilometers of special public lanes
and intersections, running north, south, east and
west of the City,
forty transport interchange nodes will be created,
fundamentally altering the profile of public transport in the
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City as all modes are integrated into one seamless system
and become a transport option for 80% of the city's
residents.
There is huge international interest in the Rea Vaya buses
which are considered to be the cleanest on the continent to
run, running on low-sulphur diesel and employing advanced
pollution reduction equipment. Officials say it is the single
biggest initiative to tackle greenhouse gases in the city.
They also claim that
if only 15% of Johannesburg car users switched to
Rea Vaya buses, instead of using their private
vehicles, the city would cut its CO² emissions by 1.6
million tonnes by 2020.
After more than 100 years of struggling to travel from one
place to another, commuters in the City of Johannesburg
will finally be able to shake off the remnants of the social and
economic exclusion they experienced through their
geographical isolation as a result of apartheid.
Rehana's challenge to all South Africans is simply
to ditch our cars, use public transport or in line with
her Joburg 2040 vision of non-motorised transport cycle or walk using the soon to be built dedicated
cycling and walking networks and in the process
experience meeting and connecting with a diverse
group of interesting people, people who just may
change your life!
CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW