Bus drivers want to be part of new busway

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta

Crews of regular buses serving routes between the Kalideres bus terminal in West Jakarta and the Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta are hoping they will be employed for the city's new busway corridor that will link the two bus terminals.

Rizal, a driver of a Mayasari Bhakti bus serving a route between Kalideres and Pulogadung, told The Jakarta Post on Friday that he was not aware of the plan.

"I haven't been informed yet by my company," he said. "But if the corridors are indeed realized, then I hope we bus drivers serving similar routes will be among the first to be considered for employment."

The Jakarta administration is planning to divide the new busway corridor into two sections: from Kalideres to the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta, and from Monas and Pulogadung.

The 33-kilometer corridor will be equipped with 43 bus stops and will be served by 187 buses.

Private bus operators Mayasari Bhakti and Steady Safe have submitted proposals to serve the corridor, construction of which will start in June. It is expected to be fully operational by April next year.

Rizal said his main incentive to be a busway driver was the monthly salary.

"(Because) it is sometimes difficult to make money when passengers are so few," he said, while glancing at the bus' half- filled seats through his rearview mirror.

In contrast to Rizal's enthusiasm, however, his assistant Nasir seemed worried by the plan. "The busway doesn't need any bus conductors, right?" he said.

Other bus drivers, like Matsoni, the driver of a Himpurna bus, which also serves a route between Kalideres and Pulogadung, said that if they could not be employed for the new busway corridor, then the city administration should protect their jobs.

"Our existing routes only overlap the busway corridors at certain points," Matsoni said. "So I don't think we would disrupt the busway's operation."

Most existing bus routes connecting Kalideres and Pulogadung ply Jl. Pemuda in East Jakarta, Jl. Pramuka, Salemba, Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Semanggi cloverleaf and Jl. Gatot Subroto, before finally overlapping with the corridor at Grogol.

The administration initially said it would decommission buses overlapping the city's maiden busway project, which stretches from Blok M, South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta. To date, however, it has only scraped state-run operator PPD buses, while other buses, which ply routes partially overlapping the corridor -- such as those between Bekasi and Kota -- are still in service.