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Independent organization needed to improve busway
Triwik Kurniasari , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 11/01/2008 10:38 AM | City
The City Transportation Council has urged the administration and busway operator Transjakarta to immediately improve the mass transportation system.
Transjakarta should be separate from the Jakarta transportation agency so it has more power to manage the busway, council chairman Edie Toet Hendratno said Thursday.
"No matter what the organizational structure of the Transjakarta is, the organization should be more independent than it is today and should have full authority over the decision making process concerning busway," said Edie, who is also a lecturer of law at University of Indonesia.
"So far, Transjakarta answers to and depends on the transportation agency. It should answer directly to the governor instead of the agency, so it can handle any problem immediately," he said.
"Bogota is successful at running its own busway because the operator directly reports to the governor."
He said the problems with the busway were due to poor planning.
"The system has not been planned well. There is no in-depth business plan on the establishment and management of Transjakarta."
Edie was speaking on the sidelines of a public discussion on public transportation services in the city at the Jakarta Media Center, Central Jakarta.
Public transportation users, who also attended the discussion, filed many complaints about busway's services.
Most complaints were about passenger loads at some busway shelters, damaged buses or shelters and the operation of three new corridors -- corridors 8,9 and 10.
Busway management faced problems even before the project was launched in 2004.
Furthermore, the provision of buses for the new corridors has been delayed, leaving corridors 8, 9 and 10 idle.
Besides the lack of vehicles, an unresolved tariff problem festers between Transjakarta and the consortium operating the corridors.
The conflict began when the administration opened a tender to procure buses for corridors 4-7. The tender was in compliance with a government regulation on public procurement.
The problems mounted because there was no accountability among officers at the transportation agency, transportation council member Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto said
"The administration, as the regulator, should be strict and courageous in setting a deadline for the institutions to solve the conflict," Tubagus said.
"Meanwhile, the transportation agency should be honest to the public. They should apologize and tell the public the reason why corridors 8-10 are not in operation yet. I'm sure Jakartans would appreciate the honesty."
The council has recommended the administration develop and improve busway by procuring connecting buses and establishing off-street parking.
"Today, many people park their cars on the city's streets. This is wrong. The administration should establish parking areas across the city," Tubagus said.
"Off-street parking areas can actually reduce congestion. Motorists can park their cars in the parking areas and take the busway to their destinations."
