Pretoria – Communities in and around the City of Tshwane will from Friday be able to enjoy travelling to and from in the new Tshwane Rapid Transit or A Re Yeng buses in dedicated lanes.
The system stretches to include the more outlying areas such as Soshanguve, Mabopane and Atteridgeville.
While the construction of bus stops and dedicated lanes in some areas is still in progress, the bus service will be rolled out in phases.
The first bus operation, to be launched on Friday, will be in the city centre and Hatfield.
The first phase of the TRT project consists of line 1 which connects Mabopane and Soshanguve with the inner city via the R80 Freeway and DF Malan Drive, and line 2 which connects the inner city with Mamelodi via Walker Street, University Road, Lynnwood Road, Atterbury Road and Route K69.
Phase 1 consists of 68 kilometres of dedicated median bus lanes, 52 stations, three depots and four terminuses.
The second route will travel from Denneboom, in Mamelodi through the key nodes of Menlyn, Hatfield, Lynnwood and Sunnyside to the CBD.
The buses will operate seven days a week from 6am until 8:25pm from Monday to Friday, with trunk services every seven minutes in peak periods and every ten minutes in off-peak periods.
On Saturdays, A Re Yeng will operate from 6am until 11:40pm, with ten-minute breaks between services during peak hours and 20-minute breaks during off-peak hours.
The Sunday services will operate from 6am to 8am with 30-minute intervals.
According to the city, the buses will cater for passengers with special needs, including children, the elderly and the disabled.
In terms of payment, passengers will get access to the system by using smart cards.
This means passengers purchase the initial smart card once-off at a nominal cost. Smart cards can be purchased and/or topped up at the main stations and at selected retailers. – SAnews.gov.za
