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Second phase of Joburg's VayaMoja app ready for roll out
As part of the City of Johannesburg's move toward a seamless and integrated public transport system, the launch of the second phase of the VayaMoja mobile app is imminent, with the first phase launched in July 2016.
The app is the result of a joint venture between Intervate, a T-Systems company, and the City of Johannesburg to provide citizen engagement technologies in the sphere of public transport. It allows commuters to access information on all Rea Vaya and Metrobus routes, bus frequencies and stops, as well as fare information.
“We are now ready to roll out the second phase of the VayaMoja app service,” says Craig Heckrath, who heads up the Smart Citizen product team at Intervate. “We’ve partnered with a vehicle tracking company to have tracking units installed in all buses across Johannesburg. Now that we know where every bus is and what direction and speed it’s moving at, we will be able to create a reliable, predictable public transport experience for commuters.
Currently users can see bus routes and stops, but they don’t have a sense for when the next bus is coming. Once this phase of the project is live, users will be able to make better decisions when navigating the complex Johannesburg transport system, as they’ll be able to track bus movements and get timing estimates directly on the app,” Heckrath explains.
Navigating a spider web of routes
Intended to empower commuters to plan a journey based on their current location and where they want to be, users will now be able to search destinations, select routes and see bus arrival times. The Johannesburg public bus service currently has a spider web of routes across the city, with a multitude of stops which even regular users might not be aware of.
“This phase of the VayaMoja app development will get us closer to enabling the commuter to navigate this web of complexity and we are excited about this phase. We’re doing our best to speed things up and by the beginning of 2017, we should have reached full functionality which will enable commuters to engage in end-to-end navigation through the VayaMoja app,” Heckrath concludes.
The VayaMoja app is available free of charge from the app stores for both Android and iOS.
