DURBAN – The eThekwini Municipality plans to spend R1 billion to buy new buses for the first phase of its ambitious new public transport network.
On Wednesday, a report tabled at a special Executive Committee meeting proposed spending over R1 billion to buy new buses for the first corridor of the new Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network as well as to replace old buses in the current fleet over the next three years.
A report tabled at a special Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday outlined the plans to go out to tender for a bus fleet as part of the replacement programme for the ageing Durban Transport buses as well as for new buses for the first corridor (C3) of the Go!Durban service, which is the route between Pinetown and Bridge City in KwaMashu.
The report proposed to replace 150 buses over the next three years on an approved budget of R325 000 000. This was to ensure that the ageing Durban Transport Fleet is replaced and the phased in introduction of Go!Durban is maintained to ensure that the Durban Transport operation is not compromised.
The Municipality operates a fleet of 531 buses.
According to the city, the optimum life span of a bus is 10 years and going beyond this, will result in significant repairs and maintenance required. Also, the Municipality will not be able to achieve a good residual value if these buses exceed a 10 year life span.
"Older buses require major work to be done, which includes engine, gearbox and differential, with major downtimes which impacts on the bus availability and compromises service delivery. Also, the cost to operate older buses increases drastically. Currently 128 buses have exceeded the optimum lifespan and already require a major refurbishment programme which include engine, gearbox and some body work," the city said in a statement.
Furthermore, R764 962 000 has been approved for the fleet requirement of 190 new buses over the next three years for the Go!Durban C3 service. The buses will be funded via the Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG) from savings in the current financial year and in the form of a loan for which the loan repayments will be funded by the PTNG.
The report stated that the Go!Durban project is underway with infrastructure for the first corridor nearing completion. The eThekwini Transport Authority has planned to start with an interim operation by mid-2017 which will require approximately 30 buses to run on this trunk corridor.
The buses need to comply with Universal Access standards, as a condition of the PTNG funding. From mid to end 2018, the full operations for C3 will be underway which will require additional 44 rigid buses and 41 articulated buses for the trunk corridor and 75 midi buses for the feeder buses that will transport commuters from the outlying areas to the trunk corridor.
The benefit of a newer fleet is that the maintenance cost to operate new buses is more cost effective at a per kilometre rate as compared to older buses.
The newer fleets will comply with EURO4 and upward specifications which minimise carbon emissions. These buses also have a lower fuel consumption which will result in significant savings in fuel.
The report outlines the costs of purchasing the new buses for Go!Durban C3 and the replacement fleet over the next three years. The total cost for the replacement bus programme, the C3 trunk extended capacity, C3 Trunk Rigid ad C3 Feeder Midi is R1 089 962 000 over the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years.
EThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede welcomed the report saying it would enhance service delivery and provide reliable transport to residents.