THE people of Diepsloot were elated to hear that plans to have a Rea Vaya bus route connecting the township to Randburg are at an advanced stage.

Executive Mayor Mpho Parks Tau announced on a visit to the community on 18 February, that in two weeks, the City would be launching a Rea Vaya bus route from Louis Botha to Ivory Park. He promised that this year, the City would take the Corridors of Freedom to Diepsloot.

He said, “We can’t continue re-entrenching apartheid; we should build a city of the future. All communities should be able to access transport to the city or even stay in the city or the area of work.”

The visit, an Imbizo, included walkabouts, site visits and a community meeting attended by mayoral committee members and some 1200 community members.

Diepsloot, in the north of Johannesburg, was formed in 1994 after part of the Diepsloot farm was expropriated by settlers from Zevenfontein and the flood area from Alexandra.

The areas population has grown from 50 000 in 2001 to 200 000 in 2011, and many residents travel daily to work in Sandton and Randburg, and other areas closer to the city centre.

To accommodate these residents, the Johannesburg Development Agency built the Diepsloot minibus-taxi rank in 2012 as part of the Diepsloot Renewal Programme.

Now, the Phase 1C route, planned to kick off in 2016 and completed by 2018, will widen transport options, including improving pedestrian areas.

Rea Vaya Phase 1C plans

Over the next five years the Department of Transport, with Rea Vaya, will plan the construction and implementation of Rea Vaya BRT Phase 1C – a trunk route – from Parktown to Alexandra (Route 5 from Alexandra to the CBD); then Alexandra to Sandton (Route 6), with complementary services between the CBD and Ivory Park (R25); the CBD to Sunninghill on Oxford/Rivonia roads (Route 13, to be initiated in 2016).

The plans include extending the Phase 1C route from Sandton to Randburg (Route 7) by 2018 and possibly extending the trunk route from Soweto Highway to Dobsonville, enabling feeders to service areas such as Braamfisherville.

Beyond 2018, Rea Vaya will prioritise potential new Rea Vaya BRT trunk routes; from the CBD to Sunninghill via Oxford Road (Route 13 and longer-term Phase 1C); and Ivory Park to Sunninghill (to link to the Oxford/Rivonia road trunk to CBD).

The Rea Vaya Phase 1C service will require 69 articulated buses and 171 standard buses (over and above the 277 buses operating in Phase 1A and 1B); a total of 240 extra Rea Vaya buses in the system.

Transport infrastructure to support communities

The Rea Vaya planning has taken into account that the Louis Botha feeder trunk will pass by a number of Johannesburg heritage spots; the proposed route and stations will be built to accommodate these iconic destinations.

Heritage areas along Louis Botha Avenue include the:
Bus stop and retaining stone wall at Berea;
Beacon Royal (declared a heritage site in 2011);
Victory Theatre;
Radium Beer Hall;
Doll House;
St Hubert Catholic Church; and
Alexandra Health Community Clinic.

Throughout the proposed network, priority will be given to improving pavements and lighting, and providing dedicated cycle lanes and bike storage at all stations.
The Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit system is also a massive job-creating project; jobs will be available in construction; road maintenance; depot and station maintenance; bike storage, bike sharing, and bike maintenance operations; transport; and the municipality.

Along with creating jobs, the system will also support local livelihoods, accommodating street traders who provide, among others, food in and around stations. Rea Vaya will also be built to support rather than eradicate social spaces such as market places and community gathering areas.

http://www.reavaya.org.za/news-archive/february-2014/1005-rea-vaya-phase-1c-links-diepsloot-to-joburg-central