Busway chief defends ticketing system

Busway chief defends ticketing system

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

The City Transportation Agency and TransJakarta Busway Management
brushed aside on Tuesday an allegation that the busway's
ticketing system was prone to corruption.

Head of the agency's traffic infrastructure division Udar
Pristono, claimed the busway had adopted an online ticketing
system. "We have a computerized ticketing system that connects
all busway shelters with the agency's data center."

Pristono said the number of passengers that passed through
busway turnstiles was automatically recorded when they inserted
their tickets.

Thus, the data center calculates the number of tickets sold
each day and the income from ticket sales, he asserted.

Farida Bau, head of the ticketing division of the TransJakarta
Busway Management, said that no discrepancy was found between
sold tickets and income reported since Jan. 15, the first day
that the busway served the route from Blok M, South Jakarta, to
Kota, West Jakarta.

She added that officials of the management, accompanied by the
police, would collect the ticket money from each busway shelter
three times a day.

As of today, tickets must be purchased from booths located at
busway shelters or terminals, as ticket vending machines are not
yet operational.

Last week, transportation experts grouped under the
Sustainable Transport Action Network for the Asia Pacific Region
(Sustrans) told the busway management to improve the ticketing
system, arguing that the manual system would be prone to
corruption as it would be difficult to oversee those tasked to
collect the money.

Those experts also said the busway system was not integrated
with other transportation modes in the city.

"The lack of feeder services contributed to the failure to
attract car owners to switch to the busway," said Bambang
Sustantono of the Indonesian Public Transportation Society.

The 56 available busway buses serve between 50,000 and 55,000
passengers a day, with tickets priced at Rp 2,500 for a one-way
trip.

The busway has recently come under public scrutiny as the
Corruption Eradication Commission cited on Tuesday possible
markups in the procurement of the buses by the administration.

Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that the City Audit Agency
would seek clarification from the commission. "They will meet in
the next few days," he said.