My gaze looks casually out of the office window towards the N2 highway in Johannesburg. On this sunny March day a red bus drove by, brand-new, freshly imported from Brazil. Colleen McCaul smiles at her desk. The project manager of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) felt a bit like a revolutionary leader on the first day of radical change. The arrival of this bus meant just that to South Africa’s major economic centre of Johannesburg and Ms. McCaul was instrumental in its introduction.
The urban planner corrects me, saying she sees herself more as part of the struggle. The introduction of an initial 140 buses in the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT) is the centrepiece of the country’s long overdue transport transformation process. But it was the staging of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that finally prompted the government to address the problem of increasing traffic chaos in the big cities. For decades the powerful lobby of around 200,000 private small bus drivers, who transport 70% of the general public passengers with their often dilapidated vehicles, prevented the introduction of a modern public transport system. Since the time of apartheid, when large sections of the black population were forced into the outskirts of the cities, the journeys to work have been very long. The transport task was taken on by minibuses, which still dominate the streets today. This is most obvious in Johannesburg, where – if you include the suburbs – over five million people live. The taxi companies are hardly organized at all and regularly hit the headlines with their disputes over the most profitable routes. This industry felt existentially threatened by the introduction of the system that is widespread in South America – and resisted.
“Nothing was easy in this project, absolutely nothing,” says McCaul. After the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) had made two million euros available, the South African planner formed a team of 20 international GTZ experts in April 2008. Together with the city and the government McCaul took on the special challenges of the project. “We concentrated especially on the financial plan, the design of at first 20 bus stations and the safety concept,” says 47-year-old Colleen McCaul,who had really been looking forward to the task. Rea Vaya, which means “We are going”, is the name of Johannesburg’s BRT system. McCaul enjoys making things move, but at first nothing moved at all. For months the BRT construction sites impeded traffic in the city, while the taxi industry caused further delays with two big strikes. On 1 September, the day after the opening, shots were fired at two BRT buses from a taxi, and the chaos seemed perfect. This even shocked the highly experienced manager: “In countries like Colombia there were strikes at the beginning. I’d expected resistance, but not shooting.”
It’s only a few months since that happened. Because negotiations are still under way with the minibus taxi industry, only 40 of the 140 BRT buses are operating at the moment. Yet McCaul is still confident: “We’re moving in the right direction. Take a look for yourself. It’ll work out well. The people appreciate the new system, they want the BRT.” She says the taxi drivers’ anger has calmed down as well. The city has retrained many of them, and they now have a much better income as BRT drivers or service personnel at the bus stations. In addition to this, taxi companies that are willing to cooperate have a share in the proceeds from the transport system.
A journey from the Regina Mundi station in Soweto into the centre of Johannesburg confirms McCaul’s quiet optimism. Dozens of minibus taxis crowd the street next to the station, while the shiny BRT buses have their own free lane. They are fully air-conditioned, have wheelchair access, and are filmed by security cameras. They look as if they come from a different, less improvized world. The bus is full, but not overcrowded, and five minutes later the next one arrives. The trip cost five rand, just over half the minibus price. “I’ve spent my life behind the wheel of a taxi since 1985,” says Lefa Mashishi, the driver. “This job with its fixed eight-hour shifts is definitely more relaxed.” The 45-year-old is one of 250 retrained taxi drivers. According to the city’s figures, another 300 work at the covered bus stops, so the 700 jobs than have disappeared in the taxi industry have almost been offset.
With unusual speed, and in about half an hour, the bus covers the 25-kilometre route, passing the two Johannesburg stadiums for the World Cup that starts in a few months. In front of Soccer City that accommodates 94,000 spectators, the stop is still under construction, like many others in the city. By the time the Wold Cup opens on 11 June, 102 bus stops are scheduled to form a network in the city. It’s an ambitious plan. But the South African governing party, the African National Congress (ANC) has to push it through. The BRT will only be completed in time on a few routes in other World Cup cities such as Port Elizabeth, Durban or Cape Town. But the majority of the World Cup matches will be taking place in Greater Johannesburg, and it will be the fast pumping heart of the tournament. Even without the big event there is traffic chaos. Only 45% of the inhabitants use public transport.
Will the system be operating in time for the World Cup? McCaul’s voice is full of optimism. “The negotiations with the taxi industry are going well; the BRT will operate on all routes.” But some doubt still remains: after all the ANC already once promised this for the Confederations Cup in June 2009, but the dress rehearsal for the World Cup took place then without BRT buses.
