Rea Vaya is losing approximately R260000 in revenue per day. The bus company has still not announced a definite date for the return of their bus services to its Johannesburg customers.
The following infographic shows the overall impact of the bus strikes on the City of Johannesburg.
When asked about the contribution of maintenance and infrastructure to the overall loss, Rea Vaya SSMA Benny Makgoga explained that “maintenance cost is minimal as infrastructure is not being used and buses are not operating.“
Passenger refunds also do not form part of the revenue loss. Makgoga remarked that “No passengers were re-imbursed during the strike as they were advised to use their smartcards as debit cards to make purchases.”
There is no official release on the Rea Vaya website about the continued suspension of bus services. The official Twitter account posted 2 days ago, urging customers to be patient.
#ReaVayaStrikeUpdate Rea Vaya service remain suspended, we will inform the passangers when service will resume
— Rea Vaya Bus Transit (@ReaVayaBus) February 24, 2015
Special thanks to Mohamed el-Dahshan, economist with the Cairo-based Heliopolis Institute.