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Disgruntled users of Jakarta’s problem-plagued busway system can now vent their grievances directly to operator TransJakarta Busway Management.

Spokeswoman Yuliani Eva told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that TransJakarta Busway Management, also known as BLU, had set up a short message service number for complaints and launched a new Web site.

“The Web site itself has already existed for several years, but now we have a new one at http://transjakarta.co.id,” Yuliani said. “People usually call our call center, but now we have an SMS service — 9259 — to improve communication.”

The official launch of both the Web site and the short message service was held on Sunday morning during Car Free Day in Sudirman near the Tosari bus-stop in Central Jakarta.

The failings of the six-year-old busway system should already be well known to TransJakarta and local government officials, particularly the long queues and lack of buses.

TransJakarta currently has eight dedicated corridors with a combined length of 143.35 kilometers and 426 buses. Around 250,000 people a day use the busway system.

Yuliani said TransJakarta had also set up a Twitter account and a Facebook page called BLUTransjakarta. As of Sunday night, it had attracted less than 400 fans.

She said the company currently received about 200 complaints each month, the vast majority about the company’s frontline staff.

There were many complaints about reckless drivers and late buses, Yuliani said.

“We usually make a prompt follow-up to every complaint. We approach the problematic personnel and put him or her in employee coaching sessions. With the late buses, it’s pretty normal because we have peak hours and during those times the bus lines are very full.”

Edward Mulianto, a busway user for the last three years, said that he used the busway not only to get to work but also to travel around the capital.

“By now, I expect that more places should be connected by the busways.” Edward said. “And I also avoid using them on weekends because of the crowds.”

However, Edward said he thought adding more buses had caused a big improvement in service and that the stops and buses are now in slightly better condition than in previous years.

“But I think they should provide a filling station somewhere in the middle of their route, it is not efficient that the buses have to travel all the way back to their main station to fill up,” he said, adding that TransJakarta should “provide a proper queue section in the stops and improve the scheduling of their buses.”

Bulan Mendota, another busway user, said there had been improvements to the service, but information about how customers could file complaints should be clearer.

“The call center number is not displayed in all the buses or at stops,” Bulan said. “So every time I wanted to complain, I did not know who to call. Usually I tell the bus attendant but I don’t think they do much.”

Bulan said short message service updates should be provided when there were problems so customers would know how long the buses would be delayed for so they could make other travel plans.