City announces fare increase of 9% to 19%
City announces fare increase of 9% to 19%
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso approved on Tuesday increases of
between 9 percent and 19 percent for public transportation fares.
Under Gubernatorial Decree No. 412/2005, the new fares came
into effect on March 8.
The new fares, approved by the City Council, are higher than
the fare increases of between 6 percent and 15 percent
recommended by the City Transportation Council.
To ensure that the decree is properly implemented, Sutiyoso
ordered City Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendy Sidabutar
to monitor the situation on the street.
After the government announced that fuel prices would be
increasing by an average of 29 percent on March 1, complaints
began flooding in that bus crews had illegally raised fares by as
much as 45 percent.
"With the issuance of this decree, we have a legal basis to
take stern action against public transportation operators who
illegally charge passengers more than the official fares," Rustam
said at City Hall.
Rustam told passengers not to hesitate to report any
violations of the decree to his agency.
The decree does not cover the fares for air-conditioned buses,
taxis and the busway.
Herry JC Rotty, the head of the Jakarta chapter of the
Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), said his
association would accept the new fares "despite objections from
public transportation operators due to the large difference
between the fare increases they demanded and the new fares".
Organda had been asking for fare increases of up to 90
percent.
"We have a dilemma because we have to help reduce the burden
on the people following the fuel price hike, but at the same time
we need to survive," Herry told The Jakarta Post.
He said Organda would recommend to the administration that it
evaluate the new fares within six months at the latest.
"Should the administration find that the fare increase is too
meager to allow transportation businesses to weather the severe
blow of the fuel price increases, it could revise the ruling," he
said.
Several public transportation owners expressed their
disappointment with the administration's decision.
"A day after the fuel price hike last Tuesday, we raised the
fares on public minivans by Rp 500. We will maintain that
increase," said Ramli, who owns several public minivans.
Under the gubernatorial decree, the fare for public minivans
went up to Rp 1,900 from Rp 1,600.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) said it opposed the
fare increases. The foundation said it would only support a
maximum fare increase of 10 percent.
"A recent survey by the YLKI found that Jakarta residents have
to spend up to 15.78 percent of their monthly income for
transportation. That's simply ridiculous. It should be between 10
percent and 12 percent," YLKI executive Tulus Abadi said.
Tulus blamed Jakarta's poor transportation system for the high
cost of transportation, which burdens both consumers and public
transportation operators.
"The administration must improve the transportation system and
not only focus on raising fares," he said.
.rm
I-BOX
New public transportation fares as of March 8
Vehicles Old fares New fares % increase
Public minivans Rp 1,600 Rp 1,900 18.75 %
Economy-class buses Rp 1,100 Rp 1,200 9.09 %
Metromini buses Rp 1,200 Rp 1,400 16.66 %
Business-class buses Rp 1,500 Rp 1,600 14.28 %
* Student fares remain unchanged at Rp 500 for all public
transportation vehicles.
Source: Jakarta administration