Bus Rapid Transport System

WSP’s South African transport experts have successfully delivered a Bus Rapid Transport system that offers fast, safe and affordable public transport on a network of bus routes across Johannesburg. It aims to provide better public transport, reduce congestion on public roads and contribute to improving the environment.

Location

Johannesburg, South Africa

Client

Johannesburg Development Agency

Project Status

Completed in 2011

The City of Johannesburg wanted to provide a public transport system to serve the metro community of Johannesburg and surrounding environments. The chosen model, named Rea Vaya, was a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service using existing urban road corridors.

In January 2008, we were appointed to oversee the design and construction of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) network, upgrading existing road infrastructure and building 11 new stations. The new road cross-section accommodates two dedicated bus lanes, and has been resurfaced to support the heavy articulated buses.Each bus station features an ergonomic design and colour-coded street lighting.

Project Management for BRT

WSP was appointed by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) to provide project management services for the development of BRT sections three and five. The scope included the construction of bus lanes, road widening, the relocation of services (water, sewer, gas and electrical, and storm water), road reconstruction and surfacing, retaining walls, property acquisitions, traffic accommodation and signalised intersections upgrades. Sections three and five are located in Parktown, between Jan Smuts Avenue along Empire Road, westwards to the intersection of Commando Road with Main Reef Road – a distance of about 11km.

Rea Vaya – which means “we are going” – offers fast, safe and affordable public transport on a network of bus routes across Johannesburg.

Agile engineering

One of the biggest challenges was that the exact position and size of underground services such as water mains, sewer mains, gas lines and electrical power cables was unknown, as was their condition. We had to replace many pipes that were found to be corroded and were near collapse.

WSP undertook the project management of all the consortiums, consisting of design consultants and contractors tasked across engineering disciplines including civil, electrical and signalling. Another key achievement was completing the land acquisition. The team invested a lot of time in negotiations with business owners and private property owners to join the BRT concept.

The project was successfully completed and the BRT system has been in operation since August 2011.