First Harambee cards introduced in Tembisa

City of Ekurhuleni MMC for transport and fleet management Clr Pelisa Nkunjana introduced the first Harambee card at Rabasotho in Tembisa on August 1.

Nkunjana said the card would allow passengers to enjoy safe and convenient travel.

Through Harambee, the City continues to drive its mission to provide sustainable and people-centred developmental services, reports Kempton Express.

“The public will be able to purchase and utilise the cards during this trial period as we test the functionality of every aspect of the process. The system is fully operational and this trial is to test the live system in real-time,” said Nkunjana.

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“We are confident the system will operate smoothly. If we find a few creases, we will ensure they are ironed out without interruption. The trial will last about a month after which the cards will be available to every commuter and citizen of Ekurhuleni,” she said.

The Harambee card allows commuters to travel on the system by loading cash on the card. The cards are available at a once-off card fee of R35 at the Harambee ticket kiosks at Rabasotho Hall, Birch Acres Mall, and Kempton Park Civic Centre.

The Harambee starter service began operations in October 2016 from Station Seven at Rabasotho Hall to Isando. In October 2017, the service was extended to OR Tambo International Airport.

To date, Harambee has 18 buses, transporting 5,000 passengers daily along a 56km route.

In October, the Harambee system will ramp up an additional bus fleet to cater to the high demand and for an extended service route.

Currently, the system is using a paper QR ticket only valid for one trip and expires after five days. This means commuters need to make regular trips to the Harambee mobile kiosks to purchase new tickets.

A feature that characterises the Harambee card is that the loaded trip fares do not expire in a few days as the paper QR tickets currently do.

The card will give Harambee passengers an opportunity to manage their weekly and monthly travel budgets, and eliminate the stress of having to stand in the queue every time they need to use the bus services.

“The City of Ekurhuleni is increasingly excited about the progress being made on the Harambee ticketing system, and look forward to an extended service in October as we mark Transport Month,” said Nkunjana.

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