Busway ticketing system prone to corruption, say experts

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta

Transportation experts called on the Jakarta administration on Wednesday to set up an online ticketing system for the busway because the current system was prone to corruption.

The call was made after the Corruption Eradication Commission announced on Tuesday its findings on allegations of markups during the procurement of the busway buses by the administration.

The experts, grouped in the Sustainable Transport Action Network for the Asia Pacific, said during a seminar on the busway that the ticketing system would always be a burden on the city budget unless the administration addressed the problem.

One of the experts, Agus Pambagio, said the current system did not provide tight controls over officers assigned to collect money at busway shelters every day at 10 p.m.

"I just worry the busway ticketing system will end up like the on-street parking system that forced the administration to subsidize the Jakarta Parking Management Agency," he said.

The administration attempted to introduce a voucher system for on-street parking, but the initiative failed apparently because motorists were uninformed and uncooperative. Under the system, parking attendants were equipped with personal digital assistants and collected the parking fees from motorists. In return, they provided motorist a freshly printed receipt.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency has already spent Rp 14 billion (US$1.5 million) to develop an online busway ticketing system. But, Agus said, the system did not work because the agency chose the wrong technology.

"If the current technology has to be replaced, then the taxpayers money was spent for nothing. Governor Sutiyoso should have censured the agency head for the failure," he said.

The 56 available busway buses can transport between 40,000 and 50,000 passengers each day, with tickets costing Rp 2,500 for a one-way trip.

Other experts including Suyono Dikun of the University of Indonesia, Bambang Sustantono of the Indonesian Public Transportation Society and Wicaksono Saroso of the Urban and Regional Development Institute also provided their evaluations of the first six months of the busway's operation.

Wicaksono said the administration had failed to establish a professional institution to manage the busway.

"The ailing state-run bus company PPD is a clear example of mismanagement of a transportation company. It would be dangerous if the same thing happened to the busway management," he said.

The busway system, which not integrated with other transportation modes in the city, was slammed by Bambang. He said the failure to provide feeder services had contributed to the failure to attract car owners to switch to the busway.

"The administration must learn from the first busway corridor from Blok M to Kota. The problems that occurred with this corridor should not reoccur in others," he said.

City transportation agency head Rustam Effendy Sidabutar said feeder services did not need to be improved yet because even without the feeders, the busway buses were always full.

Governor Sutiyoso has said that he will consider the use of locally made kancil (four-wheeled motorized vehicles), which are being introduced to replace the Indian-made bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicles), as a feeder alternative for the busway. However, he did not provide any details on how this would work.

He also said his administration would support the markup investigation of the Corruption Eradication Commission, but added that the administration had yet to find any evidence to support the corruption allegations.