City asked to address overlapping bus services
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration should start streamlining overlapping public buses services, which have contributed significantly to the disorganized condition of the transportation system in the city, a transportation analyst said.
Jack Sumabrata, an urban transportation researcher of Pelangi, a non-governmental organization dealing with development and environment, said that the problem should be a priority for the city administration before it introduced a more complex transportation system.
"You can see how many bus operators serve the Blok M-Kota routes. Such a condition can no longer be maintained," Jack told the press on the sidelines of a seminar on urban transportation management here on Tuesday.
He was referring to the route from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in Central Jakarta which will be the main corridor of the busway project.
The route is served by air-conditioned buses operated by several operators like Maya Sari Bakti, the Djakarta land transportation operator (PPD) and Bianglala. A number of other operators also serve the route but they start from bus terminals other than Blok M.
He questioned the administration's plan for the buses which have served the routes if the busway project is implemented.
"So far we still don't know what the city transportation agency will do about it," he added.
He also criticized the agency for opening the route to medium- size buses, which ply major streets like Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin that should only be served by bigger buses.
According to Jack, the allocation of transportation services based on public demand should be part of the method to resolve the complex transportation problems.
Well-managed public transportation, which provide high standard services, will encourage the public to leave their cars at home and begin to use public transportation.
Therefore, the city transportation agency should begin to classify which bus services will be permitted to travel on certain roads.