How Cities Learn. Astrid Wood
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3.8 Yarona station platform, Rustenburg
Figure 3.9 Features of BRT Systems in Cape Town and Johannesburg
Figure 3.10 Rea Vaya high-floor station, Johannesburg
Figure 3.11 Rea Vaya bus, Johannesburg
Figure 3.12 Rea Vaya bus lane, Johannesburg
Figure 3.13 MyCiTi bus lane, Cape Town
Figure 3.14 Map of the MyCiti, Cape Town
Figure 3.15 Map of Rea Vaya, Johannesburg
Figure 3.16 Modal split in South African cities
Figure 3.17 Public Transport Infrastructure and Systems Grant allocation
Figure 3.18 BRT in political cartoons
Figure 4.1 Types of policy actors
Figure 4.2 BRT policy actors
Figure 4.3 ‘Who told you about BRT?’
Figure 4.4 Details of South African municipal BRT-related study tours
Figure 4.5 Percent of respondents who went on a study tour to Bogotá
Figure 5.1 Shekilango BRT Station, Dar es Salaam
Figure 5.2 Learning process across South African cities
Figure 6.1 Horse-drawn tram in Johannesburg
Figure 6.2 Electric trams in Johannesburg
Figure 6.3 Knowledge of BRT adoption in South Africa
Figure 6.4 Exclusive curb lane on city streets
Series Editors’ Preface
The RGS-IBG Book Series only publishes work of the highest international standing. Its emphasis is on distinctive new developments in human and physical geography, although it is also open to contributions from cognate disciplines whose interests overlap with those of geographers. The series places strong emphasis on theoretically informed and empirically strong texts. Reflecting the vibrant and diverse theoretical and empirical agendas that characterize the contemporary discipline, contributions are expected to inform, challenge and stimulate the reader. Overall, the RGS-IBG Book Series seeks to promote scholarly publications that leave an intellectual mark and change the way readers think about particular issues, methods or theories.
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Ruth Craggs, King’s College London, UK
Chih Yuan Woon, National University of Singapore
RGS-IBG Book Series Editors
David Featherstone
University of Glasgow, UK
RGS-IBG Book Series Editor (2015–2019)
Acknowledgements
This book is the outcome of more than a decade of research and it would be impossible to thank all those whose support has buoyed it.
To my interviewees in South Africa and those who gave me so many hours of their time, I hope this work provides support to continue improving urban life. This book captures and shares the story of BRT in South Africa, and provides a vital record of post-apartheid transformation. Many of the key figures named in this book have since left government, retired or otherwise moved on to new positions, taking their institutional memory with them. They risked their careers and their lives for a more equitable South Africa. Thank you for your bravery, dedication and candor.
I am indebted to my mentors at Newcastle University and UCL as well as Cardiff University, Royal Holloway University of London and London School of Economics for their feedback and encouragement. I am eternally grateful to Jenny Robinson and Andrew Harris whose insightful comments provided the roadmap throughout my learning process.
I am thankful to my friends and colleagues in Newcastle, London, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and around the world who offered feedback on journal articles, book chapters, conference presentations and grant proposals, as well as direction for how to navigate the academic netherworld.
A special thanks to the series editors Ruth Craggs, David Featherstone and Chih Yuan Woon for their careful engagement with the manuscript.
I am lucky to have an encouraging husband whose love is my firmest support, children who brighten even the cloudiest of days, and a family that keeps me grounded throughout the many travels we take as academics and individuals.
This book captures and shares the story of BRT in South Africa, and provides a vital record of post-apartheid transformation. Many of the key figures named in this book have since left government, retired or otherwise moved on to new positions, taking their institutional memory with them. They risked their careers and their lives for a more equitable South Africa. Thank you for your bravery, dedication and candor.
I dedicate this work to my late father whose pursuit of social justice imbued me with a similar sense. His anti-apartheid activism, along with so many others, helped make the country of my birth a better place.
This book is for all those who believe.
Chapter One Introduction
BRT Arrives in South Africa
From Curitiba and Bogotá to Ahmedabad and Beijing, bus rapid transit (BRT) has promised to be a quick, cost-effective and efficient method of urban transportation that combines the speed and quality of rail transportation with the flexibility of a bus system. BRT is a rubber-tired mode of urban public transportation that combines buses, busways and stations with intelligent transportation systems, operational and financial plans, integrated ticketing, and a branded identity. It has been a dominant feature of urban planning for decades in cities as diverse as Bogotá, Curitiba, Guangzhou, Lima, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and New York, among others. Whereas previous studies have considered the characteristics of BRT (Deng and Nelson 2011; Jarzab et al. 2002; Levinson et al. 2003) or its impact on transportation planning (Ferbrache 2019; Paget-Seekins and Munoz 2016), this book is the first attempt to understand the global proliferation of BRT.
Much of its current popularity is due to the vehement promotion undertaken by Enrique Penalosa, Bogotá’s Mayor from 1998 to 2001 and again from 2016 to 2019, and his ties with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) (Wood 2014b, 2019b). More than two decades since Bogotá’s Transmilenio opened to global acclaim, BRT has become one of the most prominent policy solutions of the 21st century. Around the world, Transmilenio-style systems are commended by BRT advocates for improving mobility, by reducing travel time and improving comfort and reliability; and its transformation into best practice is often attributed to its affordability, brief implementation phase and generous political payoffs. It is presented as a best practice appropriate within a variety of geographical and socio-political settings, and able to tackle problems related to economic exclusion and inequality, urban sprawl and sustainability, and transportation inaccessibility.
The Bogotá model of BRT first arrived in South Africa in July 2006 at a special session of the Southern African Transport Conference (SATC), the largest transportation convention in the region and a critical platform for dialogue on issues ranging from finance to public transportation. Lloyd Wright, a global expert on BRT, was invited by the National Department of Transport to host a day-long workshop on the principles, attributes and engineering specifications of BRT. This learning was reinforced in August 2006 when Lloyd Wright visited politicians and transportation planners in Cape Town, eThekwini, Johannesburg and Tshwane to present the attributes of BRT. Interested cities then took a select group of politicians, planners, operators and consultants to Bogotá to see how BRT operates and meet with transportation operators.