It is now less than six weeks to go until Johannesburg’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is officially launched, according to Rehana Moosajee, member of the mayoral committee for transport in the City of Johannesburg.

Moosajee said there is only a small amount of work left to complete before the launch of Phase 1A of the transport system, including some work in Soweto, and four remaining stations out of the 27, reports Engineering News.

The BRT Network is to be launched in a series of phases, with the full phase 1A being completed by January 2010, which will see the expansion of trunk and feeder routes

While commuters using the BRT system will be issued paper tickets initially, this will be changed to smart cards at some point next year.