Johannesburg - There’s good news for regular Rea Vaya commuters.
The City of Joburg is introducing a new system for the purchasing of Rea Vaya bus rapid transport fares that offers significant benefits for passengers.
From May 1 passengers can earn points for every rand they spend - for every R1 spent, commuters will get one point.
The new points-based system will see commuters loading points instead of cash on to their Rea Vaya smart cards to pay for fares.
It also introduces bonus points - extra points that commuters earn when loading points on to their smart cards.
The more points loaded in a single transaction, the greater number of bonus points earned. These bonus points can then be used towards purchasing additional trips on Rea Vaya.
From May 1 to June 30, customers can earn up to 25 percent bonus points on purchases when spending R51 or more, while from July 1, when new Rea Vaya fares are introduced, they can earn up to 12.5 percent in bonus points in a single transaction.
Among the features of the Rea Vaya Points system:
* Rea Vaya customers no longer pay loading fees of 1.5 percent when buying points, which translates into a significant saving.
* Passengers no longer need to indicate their entry and exit points to get discounted fares.
* They can just hop on a bus, swipe their smart card on entry and exit, and the Rea Vaya system will deduct the correct fare.
* On entry, a fare of R5.20 (5.2 Rea Vaya points) is deducted (the minimum Rea Vaya fare), with the balance of the fare deducted on exit, dependent on distance travelled.
* From May 1 to June 30, customers can earn 10 percent in bonus points when they spend between R51 and R100, 15 percent from R101 to R200, 20 percent from R201 to R300, and 25 percent from R301 to R700. Minimum allowed is R13.30.
* Rea Vaya offers a 10 percent off-peak bonus to encourage commuters to travel in off-peak hours.
Also, from May 1, Rea Vaya will be introducing new self-service vending machines at certain Rea Vaya stations.
The Star