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.