City to initiate two new bus routes
City to initiate two new bus routes
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration has expressed its hope
that the new bus routes along the capital's main thoroughfares,
which are going to be put on offer to bus operators, will support
its unpopular three-in-one traffic restriction policy.
An official of the City Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ),
D.A. Rini, who is in charge of the bidding process for the
routes, believed that more people would be willing to take buses
with the new routes instead of driving in their own private cars.
She said only companies with good buses and strict regulations
would be considered for the new routes.
"If the (winning) bus company meets the requirements, we can
provide the public a good alternative to using their own cars,"
Rini said on Friday.
"We do not want to inconvenience the public like we did with
the three-in-one policy. Because there were no alternatives, the
policy resulted in the presence of three-in-one jockeys that
became another problem for the city," she added.
Aimed at reducing heavy traffic in morning rush hours, the
city administration introduced the three-in-one policy in 1997.
It only allows private automobiles with a minimum of three people
to travel the major streets from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m on weekdays
and Saturdays.
The policy initially received strong objections from people
working in Jakarta's "golden triangle" business district of Jl.
Sudirman, Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Gatot Subroto.
The policy is generally regarded as a failure because rather
than reducing the number of vehicles, it only resulted in
children and teenagers offering themselves as passengers to cars
going to the restricted area for the price of Rp 1,000 each.
To combat this unexpected enterprise, police and city Public
Order officials have staged occasional cleaning operations along
major arteries leading to the restricted area. According to
jockeys, mostly children, they were released after paying a fine
to the arresting officers.
According to Rini, the most important of the two routes to be
offered for bidding will connect Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman.
The other route will serve commuters traveling Jl. Pemuda, Jl.
Pramuka, and Jl. Diponegoro to Jl. Imam Bonjol.
The most important route will be tendered next year but the
number two route will be tendered for bidding in December this
year, she explained.
"The open bid is part of the city's program to reduce traffic
congestion in the capital.
We already restrict vehicles (with less than three passengers
inside) to enter the area (at certain hours), soon we will offer
public transportation as an alternative," Rini.
Participants in the bidding must meet certain requirements
such as the age and roadworthiness of the busses and restrictions
on passengers standing inside the buses.
The tender is open to the 14 existing bus companies including
the city-owned company (PPD) and five minibus firms.
She said her office hoped that the Thamrin-Sudirman project
would be operating by 2003 and the other route by 2002.
DLLAJ is also studying other systems, such as sticker,
ticketing and electronic monitoring.
The electronic monitoring devices, she said, would be placed
at the edge of the streets.
"For now we consider the sticker and ticket system as more
feasible because the electronic one is expensive and we may not
be able to maintain the equipment. However, we are considering
every possibility," Rini said.
She said her office is still waiting for reactions from the
police about the ideas because law enforcement will be the main
factor to improvement of the traffic situation.
DLLAJ Chief Buyung Atang seems more optimistic, saying that
the city administration would approve the ticket system for the
restricted area and it could be implemented soon.
"We have been raiding the jockeys since October and I really
expect that the ticket system can be tried late next year. It is
urgent for us to improve the traffic situation by implementing
this policy," he said.(dja)