Busway evaluation to be delayed by 3 months: CTS
Busway evaluation to be delayed by 3 months: CTS
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta
The much-awaited evaluation of the busway, which was supposed to
be made public last week, could be another three months away.
The Center for Transport Studies (CTS) at the University of
Indonesia (UI) was appointed two weeks ago to assess the busway,
six months after the system's initiation.
"What report? We have not conducted any surveys because the
appointment by the city administration was only two weeks ago,"
CTS expert Alan Marino told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He was responding to TransJakarta Busway Management head Irzal
Djamal's statement that the evaluation of the 12.9-kilometer
busway corridor from Blok M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta
would be announced last week.
As the busway has operated since Jan. 15., Alan questioned the
"last-minute" appointment of the CTS, saying that it was yet to
receive funds to conduct the evaluation.
The CTS will need around three months to evaluate the
operation of 56 buses along the corridor.
Last week, the Pelangi Foundation urged the administration to
provide anticipated supporting infrastructure, such as the feeder
system and pedestrian facilities.
Six months into its operation, the TransJakarta Busway has
recorded an average 46,000 passengers a day, exceeding its
estimated target of 20,000 passengers of the 60,000 people who
commute between Blok M and Kota daily.
Transportation observer Ahmad "Puput" Safrudin of the Forum
for Cleaner Emission Partnership (MEB) also questioned the
delayed appointment, saying that such a short evaluation period
would affect the validity of the result.
"I'm afraid the evaluation is only being conducted to respond
to pressure from several NGOs, rather than to assess the
performance of the busway," he said.
He hoped the CTS would conduct a comprehensive and objective
evaluation of the busway.
Citing an example, he said evaluators must look at
specifications for the busway, one of which says that it must use
environmentally friendly Euro II diesel.
The Euro II diesel fuel costs Rp 2,700 (30 US cents) per
liter, compared to regular diesel fuel which is around Rp 1,650
per liter.
"A diesel fuel dealer told me that the buses' engines are
compatible with regular diesel, though. So, where does the money
go then?" Puput said.
Alan said the CTS would evaluate the busway's service
standard, traffic management, ticketing system, feeder services,
pedestrian facilities and management.
The CTS was hired by the administration to create the city's
macro-transportation system. It had also recommended the city
develop 14 busway corridors up to 2007.
However, it was excluded from the development of the first
busway corridor as its recommendation that the route serve
Pulogadung-Kalideres, rather than Blok M-Kota, was ignored by the
administration.