City postpones bus fare increase for a week<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Failing to reach an agreement with bus operators
\nand councillors over bus fares, the city administration decided
\non Tuesday to postpone its plan to increase bus fares for a week.<\/p>\n
Several bus companies, nevertheless, have reportedly realized
\ntheir threats and raised their fares arbitrarily.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after meeting several councillors and
\nbus operators, deputy governor for development affairs Budihardjo
\nSukmadi said the city administration had agreed to postpone the
\nbus fare hike.<\/p>\n
\"We agreed to postpone the hike to give the council time to
\nreconsider its recommendation,\" Budihardjo said after the meeting
\nat City Hall.<\/p>\n
The city administration had proposed to the council a bus fare
\nincrease of between 30 percent and 60 percent, but the council
\nslashed it to a maximum of 30 percent.<\/p>\n
The secretary of Jakarta's Organization of Land Transportation
\nOwners (Organda) Asrul Azis Teba, said the council's
\nrecommendation was based mainly on political and not economic
\nconsideration.<\/p>\n
Azis said during the week of postponement, the council should
\nconsider a bigger fare increase by taking into account the
\neconomic conditions.<\/p>\n
\"The council needs more time to discuss the fare hike. We are
\nready to be invited again to talk about it,\" he told reporters
\nafter the meeting.<\/p>\n
He said Organda, which proposed a 100 percent increase, agreed
\nthat the increase should be, at least, the same as Jakarta
\nGovernor Sutiyoso's proposal. Sutiyoso had proposed a 57 percent
\nfare hike.<\/p>\n
Despite the decision to postpone the bus fare increase, some
\nbus companies on Tuesday increased their fares arbitrarily.<\/p>\n
An upset passenger, Jamaludin, who usually paid a fare of Rp
\n700 said he was told to pay Rp 1,000 by the conductor of a Kopaja
\nbus plying the Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta -- Kampung Rambutan,
\nEast Jakarta route<\/p>\n
Jamaludin said the passengers could not question the raise as
\nthere was an official announcement on the bus door notifying
\npassengers that the fares had been increased.<\/p>\n
\"The bus driver even asked some passengers to get off the bus
\nbefore reaching Tanah Abang,\" Jamaludin, a resident of Jl.
\nTalang, Central Jakarta, said.<\/p>\n
Another passenger, Rustam, said he had also paid Rp 1,000,
\ninstead of the official fare of Rp 700, to a Metromini bus plying
\nthe Kampung Melayu -- Klender, East Jakarta route.<\/p>\n
Other bus companies, such as Mayasari Bhakti, reportedly had
\nalso increased their fares.<\/p>\n
Budihardjo again urged bus operators not to increase their
\nfares until the city administration announced the fare increase
\nnext week.<\/p>\n
Asrul Azis also agreed to call on the 14 bus companies in the
\ncity not to increase the fares arbitrarily while the fare
\nincrease was still being negotiated.<\/p>\n
\"It's just an advise, we cannot guarantee that bus companies
\nwill not increase their fares arbitrarily,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Organda's chairman Aip Syaifuddin claimed that his
\norganization could not sanction bus companies which arbitrarily
\nraised their fares.<\/p>\n
\"They would be happy if we asked them to leave Organda as they
\nwould no longer have to pay their membership fees,\" Aip added.
\n(jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-postpones-bus-fare-increase-for-a-week-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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