According to the City of Johannesburg’s strategic adviser Alex Bhiman, this Rea Vaya network would be fully serviced by gas-propelled buses once operational.
The targeted date for the completion for this section of the city’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system is February 2017.
The move was in line with the city council’s drive to prioritise green industry development and climate-friendly initiatives as the use of natural gas-powered buses would help improve the city’s air quality, Bhiman said.
Bhiman was speaking at the NGV 2014 South Africa, a major conference on natural gas vehicles (NGV), held in Sandton in November.
He cited research showing that a natural gas vehicle effectively cut down on emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur and soot, which were known to be detrimental to people’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
“… Natural gas-powered buses also provide savings in fuel costs – some cities see reductions of up to 50 percent in fuel costs compared to diesel.”
“We are also engaging with City parks and the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market on the possibility of providing us with 1.5 million tons of waste for biogas production,” Bhiman said.
It would provide sufficient energy to fuel Rea Vaya’s new NGV fleet.
This followed the city council’s move to convert its Metrobus fleet to dual-fuel powered.
Bhiman confirmed that the city council was close to concluding a tender for 150 dual-fuelled metro buses.
He added that Johannesburg would be spending billions of rands over the next three years to replenish its bus fleet.
However, according to an earlier announcement by Executive Mayor Parks Tau, the use of alternative fuels was not limited to public transport fleets, but a decision was made to also convert the city council’s official transport fleets to natural gas powered.
Excluding its current Rea Vaya and Metrobus fleets, the city council had about 4 000 vehicles that provide municipal services and consume in about 19 million litres of fuel a year.
