7 buses damaged but Jakartans still enjoy the free ride
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Three days after Thursday's big kick-off, seven buses of the TransJakarta Busway have already been damaged and are temporarily out of service, hampering full operational service to the public.
"Today we're only operating 49 of the total 56 buses due to problems to seven buses," said Payaman Manik Raja, the operational director of the busway firm PT Jakarta Express Trans (JET), on Saturday.
The Jakarta Post observed that the seven buses, parked in their pool in Pinang Ranti, East Jakarta, had problems with various things, from their hydraulic folding doors to air conditioners to handrails.
"We are fortunate that the buses and their equipment are still on warranty from the various manufacturers," PT JET's technical director, Wahid Sukamto, said.
On Friday night, one of the buses' air-conditioning units on the rooftop was damaged after it struck a low overpass bridge on Jl. Matraman, East Jakarta, which is not on the busway route. Another bus' right front fender also had a large gash.
"I have reported the incidents to my superiors and the suppliers. For the air conditioner, we hope we can negotiate with them to replace it with a new one," Sukamto said.
The buses' air conditioning equipment was supplied by ThermoKing and Sutran while their bodies were assembled by New Armada and Restu Ibu. Their engines and chassis were provided by Hino and Mercedes-Benz.
The 6,000-square-meter Pinang Ranti bus pool itself will be equipped with a 900-square-meter auto repair shop and a service car as well as a tow truck for any buses that break down along the busway corridor from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.
Although the number of buses has been slightly reduced, enthusiasm by Jakartans to try out the new yellow-and-orange buses had not subsided on the third day of operation.
As Saturday was a holiday for many, plus the busway was still in its two-week free period, thousands of people -- most of them joyriders from all over Greater Jakarta who just wanted to try out the busway -- waited eagerly and patiently in big crowds at shelters along the corridor.
The largest crowd, as in the two previous days of its operation, was at the Blok M bus terminal -- starting from the terminal's underground hall to the above-ground shelter at Lane 1 of the terminal.
All of the buses, whizzing through the corridor back and forth, seemed to be over their capacity of 85 passengers per bus.