Buses, taxis to run on CNG next year
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an effort to reduce vehicular emissions in the capital, the Jakarta administration will require all new public transportation vehicles to use only compressed natural gas (CNG) starting next year.
Head of the City Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said on Wednesday a draft of a gubernatorial decree on the requirement would be finished late in January.
"The policy will take effect soon after being signed by Governor Sutiyoso," he said on the sidelines of an event to recognize those who were involved in the Clean Air campaigns in the city.
He estimated that the decree would be effective by March.
Kosasih said the decree would require all operators of public transportation vehicles to gradually replace the vehicles -- taxis, buses, and minivans -- to new vehicles compatible with CNG fuel.
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina will be ready to supply the fuel, he said.
Unfortunately, only seven out of 17 stations that provide CNG are in operation due to few customers.
"For the time being, we will facilitate the reopening of 10 other gas stations. In the long run, the administration will supply CNG at all gas stations along the routes taken by public transportation vehicles," Kosasih added.
Chairman of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) Dadan Irawan Sarpingi welcomed the initiative, but stressed that the administration should prepare the technology that can expedite the use of CNG fuel. He said that currently many operators were reluctant to use gas because it needed around 30 minutes to fill up.
"The most important thing is that the administration should give a tax reduction to us, because the price of vehicles that are compatible with CNG can be up to 70 percent higher than the ones that use gasoline," Dadan told The Jakarta Post.
Jakarta is one of the most polluted cities in the world, with vehicular emissions being responsible for around 70 percent of the air pollutants.