Big fare hike set for public buses

Ahmad Junaidi and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Commuters should prepare to pay more as the government on Friday proposed increasing land transportation fares following the recent fuel price hike.

The director general for land transportation plans to raise intercity land transportation fares by between 14 percent and 24 percent over the next six months, while the Jakarta administration announced a plan to increase bus fares by between 25 percent and 40 percent next week.

Director general for land transportation Iskandar Abubakar said the current fares could not cover transportation companies' operating costs any longer.

"We have discussed the fare increase plan with the House of Representatives (DPR) ... we're waiting for their approval.

"We hope we can decide on the hike soon, but we'll implement the policy six months later," he told a media conference after a meeting on the impact of fuel price hikes.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro led the news conference, accompanied by other top officials from the Office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and state oil and gas firm Pertamina.

Iskandar said the planned hike was part of the government's program to adjust transportation fares every six months.

"We will set the floor and the ceiling fares for land transportation," he said without further elaboration.

The government announced last week the fourth successive fuel price hike following its decision to adjust fuel prices monthly based on international prices since January.

Fuel prices for May were raised by an average of 14.46 percent.

People and businesses have generally reacted calmly to the recent fuel price hikes.

However, many public transportation drivers and owners in several cities went on strike because they were not allowed to immediately increase their fares, while some impatient public transportation operators reportedly increased the fares.

Separately on Friday, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall that the fare increase was inevitable.

"We could no longer avoid the increase. We hope we can announce the new fares on Monday after discussing it with the City Council," he said.

Sutiyoso claimed the proposed fare increases had been discussed with the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) and the Jakarta office of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda).

Head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency Rustam Effendy said the administration proposed to increase the maximum fare for public minivans from Rp 1,400 to Rp 1,600 and the fare for medium buses (Kopaja and Metromini buses) from Rp 900 to Rp 1,100.

Passengers of limited buses (Patas) will have to pay Rp 1,200 instead of Rp 900, while those taking regular buses will be charged Rp 1,000 instead of Rp 700.

He said student fares would be increased by 67 percent from Rp 300 to Rp 500.

The fares will be increased not only because of the fuel price hike, but also due to the increasing prices of spare parts and motor oil, which increased months ago, Rustam said.

Commenting on the plan, Jakarta commuters demanded that the hike proposal should be followed with improvements in services.

"But based on experience, even though fares increase, services will still be poor," Jamal, a private employee in South Jakarta, said.

Another bus user, Elita, complained that the planned hike was too high. She said she had to change buses three times from her rented house in West Jakarta to her office in Central Jakarta.

She called upon the administration to lower the increase to 10 percent.

"For me, it would be hard if the fares increase by 40 percent," Elita sighed.

In July last year, fares increased by between 28 percent and 50 percent.