An age-old problem<\/p>\n
In an effort to improve the local transportation system, the
\nJakarta administration had planned to take over state-owned
\npublic bus operator PPD. But the plan was canceled this week
\nbecause the bus company has too many internal problems. If one
\nhad time to look into the problems one would find that the
\ncompany deserves to be included in a \"Believe it or Not\" corner
\nof a newspaper.<\/p>\n
PPD, a well established public bus operator owned by the
\nMinistry of Transportation, has been in the red for the last 16
\nyears due to mismanagement. While also burdened with an oversized
\nworkforce of 5,000, it has had to provide public transportation.
\nLast year, PPD suffered a loss of Rp 400 billion (US$44 million)
\nand it is now reliant on government subsidies amounting to Rp 2.3
\nbillion a month to cover its Rp 8 billion monthly expenditure.<\/p>\n
The company operates 454 public buses that serve 67 routes in
\nthe capital. The fleet consists of 265 regular and express buses
\nand 189 buses that are air-conditioned, while 19 buses are rented
\nout from private operators. Meanwhile, the company has 489
\ninoperable buses left idle at its 16 bus depots. However
\nextraordinary this may appear, it is the state of Jakarta's
\npublic transportation today.<\/p>\n
Overcrowded public buses edging their way along jam-packed
\nstreets have been part of Jakarta's landscape for the past three
\ndecades but no solution has been found to rid the capital of this
\nhopelessly inefficient situation. One would not be exaggerating
\nto say that the local public transportation system is one of the
\nworld's worst. And tomorrow does not promise to be any better.<\/p>\n
The situation becomes all too obvious if you have to use
\npublic transportation. Once you take a city bus here you soon
\nexperience a dehumanizing process, where your value is reduced to
\nthe Rp 900 (10 U.S. cents) one-way fare you pay for any distance,
\nsitting or standing, wedged in between other sweaty passengers.<\/p>\n
Most of the time it is virtually impossible to get a seat
\nbecause the driver tries to fill the already overcrowded vehicle
\nwith even more people. Safety is not guaranteed here and the
\nspeed is limited by how crowded the street is at a given time.
\nSome 11,865 public buses are currently in operation, which
\nincludes only 1,078 that are fully air-conditioned, serving the
\ncity's 10 million population. The buses are part of the 1.9
\nmillion vehicles that travel the city's streets every day.<\/p>\n
Although there is a desperate need to overcome this situation,
\nin the current economic crisis the city is not in a position to
\nthink about modern projects like an efficient, cost-effective
\npublic transportation system or a multilevel interchange and
\nunderground system because it is finding it difficult enough just
\nsubsidizing public bus operators, which are severely short of
\nspare parts.<\/p>\n
The only and best solution might be the building of outer-ring
\nroads in order to ease road congestion within the city.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/an-age-old-problem-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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