Bekasi bus terminal expansion necessary

BEKASI (JP): The notorious traffic congestion in and around the 1.3 hectare bus terminal has reach such a level that the Bekasi administration plans to expand the terminal.

The terminal, originally designed to accommodate 10,000 buses a day, is packed daily with more than 70,000 buses, including inter-city ones, according to chief of the Bekasi land transportation agency Endang Durachim.

Bambang Prayitno, chief of the economic agency, said that to ease the traffic, the Bekasi government has built a number of smaller terminals, such as in Perumnas I, Pekayon, Sumber Arta, Tambun, Bulak Kapal and Bantargebang.

"More sub-terminals are under construction," Bambang said.

Bekasi terminal director R. Tommy Ramli said the local government has long planned to expand the terminal but the lack of funds has prevented them from doing so.

In the past, traffic authorities tried to overcome the traffic problem by rerouting buses through residential areas. But it ended up in failure because it caused traffic jams everywhere.

Now that the government allows buses to service more inter- city routes, such as to Bogor, Depok, Garut, Tasik Malaya, Pangandaran and Sukabumi and even Sumatra, traffic at the station will get out of control, officials said.

Bekasi is a fast growing industrial town, about 30 kilometers east of Jakarta. The area is rapidly expanding with the development of new housing complexes and thousands of its residents go to work in Jakarta every day. (12/pan)