Busway celebrates its first anniversary

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

One year ago today, the Jakarta administration launched the busway stretching from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota.

For some residents the project, which cost at least Rp 240 billion of taxpayers' money, is a blessing since it provides convenient and secure transportation along the main north-south artery in the city.

"I really enjoy the convenience and security of the busway to reach my office on Jl. Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta everyday," said, Nur, a resident of Serpong, Tangerang.

For others, however, the busway is a curse as it has dealt a severe blow to their day-to-day business and activities.

Traders at the Glodok electronics shopping center in West Jakarta and businesspeople going to offices along Jl. MH Thamrin and Sudirman often complain that their revenues have been slashed by up to 50 percent.

"The busway has forced me to spend hours just to reach my office on Jl. Sudirman since the three-in-one traffic policy has caused chronic traffic jams on alternative routes," said Jurfan, a director with a foreign bank, who resides in Cipinang, East Jakarta.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso had hoped that the busway would ease traffic congestion in the capital.

After one year in operation, which required 'sacrifices' from many parties, not to mention dozens of trees that were felled to make space for the busway, the city administration appears reluctant to reveal its own assessment of the project.

It has only revealed a few positive results of its evaluation over the project, including a survey result showing that the project has encouraged 14 percent of private car owners to switch to the busway, and that the ticket sales increased from 1.15 million in February 2004 to 1.6 million in December 2004.

However, the administration failed to quantify the costs spent to make the project successful.

One of the glaring failures of the project is the nearly non- existent busway feeder system. The ticket sales for feeder buses plunged to 234 in December from 1,558 in February 2004.

Some technical problems also linger, including some shoddy construction of some of the platforms.

In the meantime, the administration is now preparing two more busway corridors. Many technical problems and failures could be repeated in the new projects if the administration ignores the flaws of the current busway.