Busway blamed for accident
Damar Harsanto and Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
At least four accidents involving busway buses have occurred since the ambitious project was launched by Governor Sutiyoso on Jan. 15, with all of the collisions taking place at intersections where the busway lane opens up to regular traffic.
All of the accidents took place in front of officers from the Trans-Jakarta Busway, the city transportation agency and the Jakarta Police traffic division. The intersections where these smashups happened lacked proper traffic signs warning vehicles to be careful of passing busway buses.
The transportation agency head, Rustam Effendy, would not blame the accidents on a lack of traffic signs, instead pointing the finger at the lack of discipline on the part of motorists.
"Nothing is wrong with the busway. It is the motorists and jaywalkers who lack discipline when they cross the busway lane," he said on Friday.
Rustam said the agency would not put up traffic signs to warn busway drivers to be use extra caution when passing points prone to traffic accidents, like U-turns and traffic circles.
"New traffic signs mean more money and we don't think they are necessary," he said.
However, he failed to offer a solution to the traffic accidents along the 12.9-kilometer busway corridor stretching from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.
Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo said that all parties involved in the busway project lacked discipline.
"Not only the public, but the busway management and drivers must also show discipline. Otherwise, such incidents will continue to happen," he said.
Most of the existing traffic signs along the busway corridor are intended for motorists and pedestrians, rather than busway drivers.
Only a few intersections, like the Harmoni intersection, are equipped with special busway traffic lights that turn green five seconds before the regular traffic lights, to allow the buses to go first.
The latest accident involving the busway occurred on Wednesday when a bus traveling from Blok M hit a motorcycle making a U-turn at the Batu Ceper (Alaydrus) intersection. Suyitno, the motorcyclist, suffered a broken leg and head injuries.
On Jan. 29, a bus hit a motorcycle making a U-turn at the same intersection, causing motorcyclist Prihono to suffer serious injuries. A crowd of people who witnessed the accident attempted to burn the bus.
On Jan. 24, a bus traveling from Blok M hit a car at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. The driver, a Swiss citizen, Wuthrich Urs, was uninjured but his car was damaged.
On Jan. 16, a bus traveling from Blok M hit a motorcycle making a U-turn at the Krukut intersection in front of the Gramedia bookstore. The two people riding on the motorcycle, Wawan and Adi Nurjaya, suffered minor injuries in the accident.
Points prone to accidents along busway corridor:
1. Pemuda statue (Pizza Man) traffic circle 2. Hotel Indonesia traffic circle 3. Bank Indonesia (Arjuna Wijaya statue) traffic circle 4. National Monument (Monas) U-turn on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat 5. Jl. Majapahit (Ralin) T-junction 6. Harmoni intersection 7. Batu Ceper (Alaydrus) intersection bridge 8. Sawah Besar (Plaza Gajah Mada) intersection bridge 9. Krukut intersection bridge, in front of Gramedia bookstore 10. Olimo intersection bridge 11. U-turn in front of the Lindeteves hardware wholesale center 12. Crosswalk near the Glodok bridge 13. Kota railway train station intersection