200 public transportation vehicles lose permits

200 public transportation vehicles lose permits

JAKARTA (JP): The City Land Transportation Control Agency
(DLLAJ) has temporarily revoked the operational permits of 200
public transportation vehicles for various violations over the
last four months.

The head of DLLAJ's public transportation control department,
Oerianto, said yesterday that the vehicles were all impounded at
a pool in East Jakarta.

"Their permits have been revoked for two weeks," he said.

"Sixty-eight of the vehicles are taxis and the remaining 132
vehicles are large buses, minibuses and minivans," he said.

Oerianto said that most of the bus licenses were revoked
because their drivers were dropping off passengers before their
final destinations, while the cabbies were penalized for refusing
to use their meters.

Many buses cut their routes short in order to pick up more
passengers and make more money to pay their rents, he said,
adding that drivers often use traffic jams as an excuse to do so.

He said that two-week punishment might be too light for the
vehicle owners.

"They may get one-month in the future," he said.

City Council speaker M.H. Ritonga supports the agency's plan
to uphold the regulation.

"It's good that the agency has impounded the vehicles," M.H.
Ritonga said.

Users of public transportation regularly complain about poor
service and being forced to get off one bus and having to pay to
get on another. (yns)