The Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is due to start service at the end of August 2009. This public transport system is the first of its kind in South Africa, and Johannesburg has been chosen to spearhead the national project. As per the vision and policy of the City of Johannesburg, the first 25 stations comprising phase 1A of the programme, will have their glass and steel entrances treated with original works of art by locally based Johannesburg and Soweto artists. The artworks are translated from a graphic state into ‘stencils’ for sandblasting onto the glazed sections of the station entrances. Similarly the steel paneling on the narrower inner city stations combine the stencil approach with lazer-cutting and in both instances artists have selected to introduce limited colour layers in order to heighten the sandblasted detailing and steel treatments (PDF courtesy of Ikemeleng Architects).

Rea Vaya Project Introduction: PDF (2.2MB)