Gatvol commuters nit-picks Rea Vaya

Bheki Nakana

Nie Cele

Mounting trepidation and complains about the City’s fast, safe and affordable transport system Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is growing thick and fast amongst Joburgers.

Commuters using these shuttles to and from Soweto and the CBD’s surroundings are cheesed off and have lashed out at the buses management for what they labelled ‘poor planning, feeble customer service and shameless management’.

These whinges are triggered by recent shenanigans plaguing the eight year old city’s transport system.

According to scores of commuters who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity, poor planning by management could drive away thousands of commuters to other alternative modes of transport around the City.

Their argument is that off-late these buses are filthy, drivers are reckless, buses are always late and overloaded, exorbitant single trip fare and the ping pong offline systems.

This publication sent a number of questions to the city and this is how they responded.

Offline  systems?  We do acknowledge that there are problems around stations being offline and we urge commuters to load money when they can.   We are working on upgrading our IT infrastructure to prevent the off line problem going forward.

Exorbitant single trip fare?  There is a price premium to pay for single tickets and we apologise for this. As we resolve our IT problems, this will no longer be a problem.

Buses behind schedule and overloaded?  Our buses are built to provide for sitting and standing space.  Our buses are not overloaded and this is not due to a lack of planning. During peak periods all our buses are in operation.  If commuters do not like to stand, we urge them to consider travelling earlier or later if they are able.

Filthyness?  We are not aware that our buses are filthy. We would appreciate it if passengers could give feedback on buses that are dirty.  They can use the social media channels or suggestion boxes at stations. They can also call the COJ call centre 0860 56 2874.

Reckless driving?  We would appreciate if passengers could give feedback on incidents of reckless driving which we will escalate to the Bus Operating Company.  Where reckless driving is proved, disciplinary action is taken against reckless drivers.

Did you know?

• Work is under way to extend the Rea Vaya network all the way up to Sandton and Alexandra in northern Johannesburg (via Louis Botha Avenue) as part of the long term ‘Corridors of Freedom’ project.
• To use the Rea Vaya bus you need a Smartcard which can be obtained from Rea Vaya bus stations for a once-off fee.