Busway chief defends ticketing system<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The City Transportation Agency and TransJakarta Busway Management
\nbrushed aside on Tuesday an allegation that the busway's
\nticketing system was prone to corruption.<\/p>\n
Head of the agency's traffic infrastructure division Udar
\nPristono, claimed the busway had adopted an online ticketing
\nsystem. \"We have a computerized ticketing system that connects
\nall busway shelters with the agency's data center.\"<\/p>\n
Pristono said the number of passengers that passed through
\nbusway turnstiles was automatically recorded when they inserted
\ntheir tickets.<\/p>\n
Thus, the data center calculates the number of tickets sold
\neach day and the income from ticket sales, he asserted.<\/p>\n
Farida Bau, head of the ticketing division of the TransJakarta
\nBusway Management, said that no discrepancy was found between
\nsold tickets and income reported since Jan. 15, the first day
\nthat the busway served the route from Blok M, South Jakarta, to
\nKota, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
She added that officials of the management, accompanied by the
\npolice, would collect the ticket money from each busway shelter
\nthree times a day.<\/p>\n
As of today, tickets must be purchased from booths located at
\nbusway shelters or terminals, as ticket vending machines are not
\nyet operational.<\/p>\n
Last week, transportation experts grouped under the
\nSustainable Transport Action Network for the Asia Pacific Region
\n(Sustrans) told the busway management to improve the ticketing
\nsystem, arguing that the manual system would be prone to
\ncorruption as it would be difficult to oversee those tasked to
\ncollect the money.<\/p>\n
Those experts also said the busway system was not integrated
\nwith other transportation modes in the city.<\/p>\n
\"The lack of feeder services contributed to the failure to
\nattract car owners to switch to the busway,\" said Bambang
\nSustantono of the Indonesian Public Transportation Society.<\/p>\n
The 56 available busway buses serve between 50,000 and 55,000
\npassengers a day, with tickets priced at Rp 2,500 for a one-way
\ntrip.<\/p>\n
The busway has recently come under public scrutiny as the
\nCorruption Eradication Commission cited on Tuesday possible
\nmarkups in the procurement of the buses by the administration.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that the City Audit Agency
\nwould seek clarification from the commission. \"They will meet in
\nthe next few days,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/busway-chief-defends-ticketing-system-1447893297",
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