The A Re Yeng Bus Rapid Transit system was Tshwane's answer to Johannesburg's Rea Vaya and Cape Town's MyCiTi — a modern, efficient public transport network that would reduce congestion and connect communities. The reality has been a R4.8 billion lesson in how not to build transport infrastructure.
Planned to carry 86,000 passengers daily, the system carries approximately 8,200 — less than 10% of target. Only a fraction of the planned routes are operational. Stations that were built at enormous cost sit empty for most of the day. The system requires ongoing operating subsidies because fare revenue does not cover costs — and cannot cover costs at current ridership levels.
The BRT's failure is not solely a corruption story, though procurement irregularities were identified. It is primarily a story of poor planning, political interference in route design, and the prioritisation of construction spending (where procurement opportunities exist) over the unglamorous work of route optimisation and feeder-system integration. The result is a R4.8 billion system that serves fewer people than a well-run minibus-taxi rank.