Ekurhuleni recently made this commitment in a two-day meeting involving all public transport operators from the city.
The meeting sought to create an environment conducive for negotiations and to allay fears by operators.
According to Yolisa Mashilwane, head of Ekurhuleni’s transport planning and provision department, the jobs in the new system will be permanent jobs and complies with labour legislation with respect to conditions of service boasting benefits such as regular salaries, leave and sick leave.
Mashilwane says the BRT system is not only going to address current challenges such as households spending more on public transport , lack of cooperative and coordinated public transport and lengthy travel times, but it will also address the scourge of unemployment.
“The jobs will range from cleaning, bus drivers, and management among others. This excludes jobs to be created when the BRT infrastructure is developed.”
The metro has committed to advancing negotiations aimed at getting the current public transport operators an opportunity to participate in operating the BRT service as the shareholders of the new Bus Operating Company (BOC).
She adds that in return, the affected operators will be required to withdraw vehicles, which compete with the BRT routes from service.
“The withdrawal of vehicles is necessary, because shareholders do not operate vehicles in competition with their own BRT operation and also to ensure that BRT fare revenue is sufficient to cover the cost of the BRT operation,” she explained.
The city urged public operators to view the change as a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved, including the public transport users.
“The current public operators will be given training to run a professional bus service as shareholders. The public transport users will enjoy an affordable, high quality and attractive road-based public transport service, serving the city as a whole,” Mashilwane says.
It is envisaged that construction of the bus routes as part of phase one of the project will commence from mid-2014, and the first bus will start operating by early 2016.
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