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Experts Suggest Plans to Improve Jakarta Busway
Arientha Primanita | November 13, 2009

Passengers transfer from one busway bus to another following a breakdown on Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta. (Photo: Safir Makki, JG) Passengers transfer from one busway bus to another following a breakdown on Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta. (Photo: Safir Makki, JG)
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jetset24
9:29am Nov 16, 2009

The city is clogged with cars, motorcycles, and buses on any given time and day. And the recent weather is not helping the situation in and around Jakarta. Smart, dissent ordinary people trying to reach their destination using the Trans Jakarta buses are hampered by private, government or diplomatic cars using the bus lanes which proved no cooperation in solving the hideous traffic problems. During my father's diplomatic assignments overseas, he wouldn't dare break the driving rule of law in a foreign country be it in Asia, or Europe. Therefore on various visits to Jakarta, I am surprised to see a few diplomatic cars going beyond the rules by using the bus lanes in Jakarta. Law enforcement officials should be more vigilant and restrict the lanes for buses only, no exceptions unless it is a real emergency. It is time for Jakarta to follow discipline, common sense, and a team work attitude to alleviate the traffic madness. It is not healthy, it drains the energy out of a person, and finally how can anyone local or expatriates conduct business in Jakarta when half of the time is being detained in traffic.


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Jakarta government officials and local and international urban planning experts on Thursday recommended two pilot projects that would help improve the Transjakarta busway system.

A mobile refueling system and “lane sterilization” were projects that could feasibly be implemented within 100 days, according to discussions after the two-day Sustainable Jakarta Convention.

Taufik Widianto, Transjakarta’s Busway Management Body (BLU) operation manager for equipment and infrastructure, said the mobile refueling system was urgently needed to make operations more efficient.

“Refueling has the most impact on our operations,” he said. “[The interval between buses] gets interrupted because the buses have to go to the stations to refuel, so they arrive late at the shelters.”

Taufik added it wouldn’t be a difficult project to implement as there were companies in Jakarta that provide such gas trailers.

“The buses can go straight to the shelters and have their gas refueled and passengers will not have to wait long,” he said, adding that it could increase the productivity of busway operations by up to 20 percent.

Muhammad Akbar, head of the city’s traffic management division, said the “sterilization” of the busway lanes also emerged as an important project.

He said that with violations of busway lane rules so commonplace, the forum suggested that a semi-automatic portal be placed in the Mampang shelter in Corridor 6, which serves Ragunan to Dukuh Atas route.

“The semi-automatic portal has a button to be pushed by the official to open the gate once the bus is arriving,” he said.

He said the Mampang shelter was chosen because the passengers there were the most sensitive. The number of passengers there dropped for several days after the lanes were opened to other vehicles, and increased when the lanes were closed again.

“Law enforcement has failed to secure the lanes from undisciplined road users,” he said, adding that many accidents resulted from cars and motorcycles abusing the busway.

Akbar said the program would start in six locations and installation of the portals could cost up to Rp 200 million ($21,200).

Alex Buechi, PT Holcim manager of Sustainable Construction, said other issues discussed at the convention included affordable housing, waste management and energy efficiency.

He said Holcim, along with convention organizers International Finance Cooperation, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), Industry Jakarta and Swisscontact, would submit recommendations to Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo.

“We will hand it over to the governor by December,” he said.