Busway service disappoints the visually impaired

Busway service disappoints the visually impaired

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The busway is not for everyone, at least not for a group of
visually impaired citizens who found the service not as
comfortable as earlier promised.

Besides the lack of facilities for the disabled, the poor
preparation of the busway service, which began on Jan. 15, has
taken its toll with the dismissal of 15 busway drivers for a
variety of misdemeanors.

"It's not that the busway is totally inaccessible, but I'd say
the operator is providing access for the disabled half-
heartedly," said Faqih, a member of the Indonesian Disabled
People's Advocacy Group.

Along with three friends -- Bagus Supriyanto, Siti Afiyah and
Adjat Sudradjat -- Faqih tried a return trip on the busway from
the Sawah Besar shelter in front of Gajah Mada Plaza, West
Jakarta, to the Bendungan Hilir shelter on Jl. Sudirman, Central
Jakarta.

Faqih highlighted the fact that not all pedestrian bridges
leading to the busway's shelters have been equipped with ramps --
essential for people in wheelchairs -- like the Sawah Besar
shelter, which still uses regular concrete stairways.

He also pointed at the distance between the shelters'
platforms and the buses which may endanger the disabled,
including the blind, or even elderly citizens and pregnant women.

During the busway's grand launching last month, a group of
wheel-chaired citizens, who were invited to the event, made
similar comments. They experienced problems entering the
shelter's turnstiles which were too narrow for their wheelchairs.

Faqih also questioned the busway operator's promise to provide
several seats near the bus driver for the disabled.

Bagus, meanwhile, commented on the lack of special facilities
for the disabled.

"The officers do not take the initiative to help the disabled
like helping them to get on and off the buses," he said, who had
to stand all the way for half of the trip.

The four were invited for the trial by the Jakarta Residents
Forum (Fakta), the Indonesian Independent Network of Civil
Society for Development Transparency and Accountability (JARI)
and the Indonesian Debt Watch Foundation (Yayasan DWI).

Without the NGO members accompanying them, the four would have
had difficulty putting their tickets in the ticket machines and
getting themselves through the shelters' turnstiles.

Bagus, who has had experience in using public transportation
abroad that cater to disabled citizens, also commented on the
absence of audio facilities to aid the visually impaired.

Meanwhile, 15 drivers have been dismissed from PT Jakarta
Express Trans (JET) for disciplinary problems since the busway
project was launched.

The drivers, selected from among the best bus drivers from bus
operators joining the busway consortium, only received one week
training at the National Police traffic training center in
Serpong, Tangerang. The training only gave them four days of
actual driving along the busway corridor from Blok M, South
Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta, at night.