A Case Study on the Feasibility of BRT-Assisted Transport at the University of Pretoria

Abstract

This research aims to examine the feasibility of a collaboration between public transport and institutional transport operators to reduce growing traffic congestion around educational facilities. The A Re Yeng bus rapid transit system offers the possibility to explore this at the University of Pretoria due to its proximity to major University campuses, particularly, Hatfield and Groenkloof. A comparative study was done in which four scenarios were considered: the existing university transport, the current A Re Yeng service and two modified BRT solutions. Passenger demands, service design and cost analyses were considered. It was found that the current BRT offering can cater for the added student capacity although it showed vastly increased travel times due to a required transfer during the journey. It also resulted in far higher costs. The modified solutions accumulated more comparable costs, and also illustrated other operational and systemic efficiencies in the form of route and service design, as well as passenger demand management. The research showed that there are synergies that can be cultivated from a capacity and cost perspective to replace existing institution transport with public-operated transport, but issues such as security and infrastructure should be carefully considered.