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The Jakarta administration announced on Thursday it might experiment with TransJakarta buses traveling against the flow of traffic to try and bring down the number of accidents in the bus-only lanes.

Police suggested the move following an accident on Wednesday along busway corridor VI in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, in which a 9-year-old boy was hit and killed by a bus.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said that with the buses going against the flow of traffic, motorists and pedestrians would be less likely to stray into busway lanes.

“I believe this contra-flow method is the best option,” he said at City Hall. “This way, the risk of accidents involving other vehicles can be drastically reduced.”

He added his administration had actually discussed implementing this system since before the busway network was set up, but opted against it because “we figured motorists in Jakarta had a high level of traffic discipline.”

“On that assumption, we set up the system with the buses going in the same direction as the other traffic [on a particular side of the road], but now it turns out we have to go back to the original plan,” Fauzi said. He added the city would first carry out a study on the feasibility of the contra-flow method before deciding whether to implement it.

Fauzi also expressed his condolences for Muhamad Rizki, the boy killed on Wednesday, and said he was awaiting a police report into the accident.

The fourth-grader had reportedly been hit while attempting to cross the busway lane.

There is a pedestrian bridge located near the scene of the accident but many people still make their way through traffic to cross the street in the area.

In a related development, a police officer was killed on Thursday after grazing another motorcyclist while riding down a corridor X busway lane in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. He was thrown from his bike and fell outside the lane, directly into the path of an oncoming truck that ran him over, killing him.

Police have detained the truck driver for questioning.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman, who suggested the contra-flow method, said it was one way to keep the busway lanes clear of other vehicles, in addition to having officers physically block off the entrance to the lanes and fine offenders.

“We’ll educate the public about the system before it goes into effect,” he said.

Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said that even without extra measures to keep the busway lanes clear, motorists and pedestrians should just follow traffic rules — including walking on the sidewalk rather than the road for pedestrians.

“Also, the busway lane dividers and fences are there to keep people out of the lanes, but anyone too lazy to walk on the curb or cross at a crosswalk can easily breach the barriers,” he said.

“That’s why it’s important to improve public discipline.”

Separately, the Jakarta Police’s traffic unit announced it had named Merke Lourine Rumengan, 41, the driver of the bus involved in Wednesday’s fatal accident, as a suspect.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Yakub D.K., the unit’s head of law enforcement, said Merke was being held at the city police headquarters.

“The suspect has been charged on two counts, of manslaughter and reckless endangerment, under the traffic law,” he said. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of six years and fine of up to Rp 12 million ($1,350).

According to the TransJakarta Management Unit (BLU), since the start of the year four people have died in accidents involving TransJakarta buses, while in the first seven months of 2010, eight people died.