JOHANNESBURG – Commuters who travel between 25 and 35 Kilometres will pay R11.50 instead of R12.50 while those travelling more than 35kms will now pay R12.50 instead of R14.20. The decreases are 8 and 12 per cent respectively.
This is direct benefit to commuters, for example, who currently travel from Naledi to Ellis Park, Protea Glen to Joburg Theatre, Eldorado Park to Ellis Park, Indingilizi (Dobsonville) to Ellis Park.
Tickets for single trips will cost R13.00 instead of R25.00 while return trips will cost R25.00 instead of R37.00. These reductions will benefit once off users who travel to soccer and rugby events at Soccer City, Ellis Park, Orlando Stadium and Wits Stadium.
“We have listened to our commuters who complained about the high costs of public transport – especially those who live far from work due to the City’s apartheid legacy, and reduced the fares for long distance travellers and occasional users,” said MMC for Transport, MMC Christine Walters.
“We are committed to provide high quality, affordable and accessible public transport”, she added.
In addition, this week the City of Joburg piloted the removal of loading fees when commuters load money onto their smart cards at Rea Vaya stations. This means that commuters who load at Rea Vaya Station will not pay R1.50 if they load less than R60 on to their smart cards or 2.5% if they load more than R60. The pilot has been welcomed by commuters and will be rolled out from 1st February 2014.
These measures come on the back of the introduction of a 10% reduction in fees for passengers who travel off peak – which is 08h30 and 14h30 during the week and over weekends. This has made travel more affordable to those who can travel in the off peak such as unemployed people, students attending at Wits and the University of Johannesburg and patients who travel to Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Charlotte Maxeke public hospitals.
The Council’s decision follows a public participation process where concerns on affordability of Rea Vaya were raised and considered for the direct benefit of our commuters.
