SOUTH AFRICA Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) has been awarded the contract for the Rea Vaya 1B BRT project. The successful bid was made through MBSA’s South African dealership subsidiary Sandown Motors, in which MBSA has a majority interest.
The order covers 134 Euro 5 Mercedes-Benz chassis which will be shipped as completely knocked down sets (CKD) from Mercedes- Benz in Brazil and then assembled at the Mercedes-Benz plant in East London, South Africa. All bus bodies are being supplied by Marcopolo.
Rea Vaya manages routes over a distance of roughly 120km, mainly serving townships outside Johannesburg which, until recently, were not linked to the city’s transport infrastructure.
The Rea Vaya 1B order is for 134 chassis from the O 500 M Euro 5 and O 500 MA Euro 5 series. 93 chassis will be for single deckers and 41 are artics. These will be the first Euro 5 chassis to be used in a BRT system in South Africa. All buses will have high-floor chassis and powertrains with dimensions precisely aligned with the design of the Johannesburg BRT system.
