Busway could aggravate congestion if project fails

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Get ready for the busway system that is scheduled for a trial run in the middle of January. The system is expected encourage people to leave their cars at home and to use the public transportation to travel to work every day.

If the system's aim is realized, it will alleviate traffic congestion from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta. But if it fails, it will worsen the already serious problem of congestion in the 12.9 kilometer route.

Earlier, the city transportation agency planned to have the new system fully operational by the end of this year at the latest but decided to postpone it for "technical reasons".

"Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that the city administration decided to postpone the busway system so it can be better prepared and designed," a transportation expert, Alan Marino, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

"It will be such a waste if this expensive project results in failure. That's why the transportation agency has to ensure that everything goes well," he said.

The city transportation agency said that the new system would use two buses from different makers, the Japanese Hino and German Mercedes Benz, to see which one was more suitable for the new system.

There will be 60 buses, increased from the original number of 50 buses, to serve the busy route once it is fully operational.

The agency has so far marked the special lane for the busway from Blok M to the Harmony intersection in Central Jakarta. The busway lane is separated by wider street lines.

Motorists may also notice red squares painted along the way indicating future bus stops for the busway system. There are 30 spots in each direction.

The project's initial budget was Rp 50.8 billion from the 2002 City Budget although only Rp 4 billion was spent on miscellaneous items.

Though it has not yet spent the initial budget, the agency instead requested a two-fold budget increase of some Rp 90.25 billion for "more items" to be financed by the 2003 city budget.

Alan, who is also a lecturer for a transportation program of the civil engineering department of the University of Indonesia, warned the city administration to be fair about which companies would be allowed to operate the busway. "There should be at least two or three companies involved in the project to prevent any monopoly," he said.

"Besides, a single company would not be able to serve such a busy and huge route.

"The city administration should give equal treatment to companies who qualify in terms of technical specifications to run the busway system," he added.

Meanwhile, bus drivers already plying the route demanded equal treatment last Friday with the city-planned busway system saying privileges given to the new system were not fair.

They told the Post that they mainly objected to the exclusive lane designated for the busway in the fast lane on the right side of the two-way street. Currently, all buses are required to drive in the slow lane.

But Alan said the drivers need not worry because there was enough for everyone in the lucrative route. "The most important thing is that all existing buses are allowed to run as usual. Let them compete freely with the buses in the busway.

"It would be stupid to stop the existing service while we are not sure how the busway will perform," he added.

But as the busway will occupy one lane exclusively, many skeptics say it would only worsen traffic jams rather than reducing them.

"Well, I think we must see it the other way around. The busway promises a shorter travel time with its dedicated lane", said Alan.

The next two years will be a crucial period to ensure that the busway really works well, he added.

"It is up to the bus operators to achieve the goal. Once they can achieve it, more passengers will leave their cars at home and use the busway," he said.