Joburg launches electric bus trial across Metrobus and Rea Vaya routes

The City of Johannesburg has begun an electric bus trial programme on Metrobus corridors and the Rea Vaya BRT Phase 1C(a) route, the city announced as it seeks to test new public transport technologies and measure operational performance.

What the trial will test

The trial is intended to evaluate battery-electric bus technology and related systems under real-world operating conditions. The City said the programme will assess a range of technical and operational measures, including:

• operational efficiency
• energy consumption
• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
• Coefficient of Friction (COF)
• fleet availability
• life-cycle costing
• energy storage and battery maintenance
• passenger experience factors such as accessibility, comfort and safety
• reduced emissions and noise pollution

Technology and partners

The MMC for Transport, Kenny Kunene, said the City collaborated with U40 Cities and several leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to launch the Electric Bus Technology. The systems to be trialled include intelligent transport systems (ITS), real-time passenger information, driver monitoring, and AI-based safety systems.

Routes and operations

The trial buses will be deployed along Metrobus’s high-demand corridors the City specified routes in Soweto, Sandton, the CBD and Roodepoort and will also operate along the Rea Vaya BRT Phase 1C(a) route. The City listed the following areas served by Rea Vaya Phase 1C(a): Berea, Yeoville, Orange Groove, Cheldondale, Norwood, Balfour Park, Bramley, Wynberg, Alexandra, Marlboro, Athol, Sandton, Sandown, Longmeadow and Greenstone.

The City said the electric buses will operate alongside the existing fleet to ensure no disruption to commuters and that all buses will be integrated into Metrobus’s Fleet Management System (FMS), Control Centre and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system for independent performance verification and integration into Rea Vaya Phase 1C(a) operations.

Duration and verification

The e-bus trial will run for 30 to 60 days between September and October 2026. The City’s Performance Management Unit (PMU) will independently verify performance data against approved Technical Information Definitions (TIDs).

City comments

Kunene described the pilot as a planned approach to future fleet decisions:

“This pilot is a strategic intervention to ensure that future fleet recapitalisation decisions are evidence-based, not speculative. Johannesburg cannot continue to buy buses the old way,”

and added:

“We must test, measure, and prove what works best for our city’s route systems, our passengers, sustainability, climate and environmentally friendly mobility”.

The executive director of the Department of Transport, Luthando Maboza, said the initiative is a key step in implementing the City’s strategic integrated transport plan and called the project

“a living laboratory on our own streets”

, adding:

“Electric buses are the future of the City’s eco-mobility.”

Next steps

The City stated that if the trial is successful it will continue to carry commuters on the Metrobus and Rea Vaya BRT route system, and that the project supports skills transfer and local job creation, according to Kenny Kunene.