Rea Vaya to get new inner city bus depot

The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), the City of Johannesburg’s infrastructure development and maintenance entity, is revamping the existing Selby bus depot in the inner city.

The main aim for the revamp is to turn the depot into a state-of-the-art Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) depot.

JDA’s chief executive, Thanduxolo Mendrew, said the redevelopment of the Selby bus depot formed part of Phase 1B Rea Vaya works.

“In 2013, JDA developed the first depot in Meadowlands in Soweto. The development of an inner-city depot was identified in order to reduce dead mileage during off-peak hours as previous buses would return to the Meadowlands depot or the Booysens layover to wait,” Mendrew said.

She added that, mostly, commuters would find empty buses having to wait at these depots before travelling back to the city.

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“This will now be the thing of the past. The move will also help in reducing unnecessary carbon emissions.”

The refurbishment of the depot, which was formerly used by Putco buses, include:

•  The replacement of a portion of the existing concrete paving to create a bus parking platform. This includes the construction of new concrete paving slabs on the identified footprint.
• The construction of a traffic circle for bus turnaround and depot access facilitation adjacent to the site on the Pat Mbatha highway.
•  The removal and replacement of the depot’s boundary fence and internal fences.
•  The provision of two off-street parking embankments on the perimeter site.

The Selby bus depot is being revamped to be on par with the Meadowlands depot, which is environmentally friendly and custom-made for Rea Vaya buses.

The depot will accommodate up to 270 buses at a time and will comprise a bus parking area, administration and maintenance blocks and underground fuel tanks, among other facilities.

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Environmentally-friendly features will include lights controlled by sensors; a robust, mild steel sheeting for the roof, cladding to help with climate control and a noise-wall barrier erected around the premises.

The roof structures will also allow direct sunlight into the building to reduce the need for lighting. Water will be recycled for reuse in the buildings and the wash bay.

The revamping of the Selby bus depot, which started in August last year, is expected to be completed in May.

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