City to sanction bus operators

JAKARTA: Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo said the administration would impose sterner sanctions on bus operators who have switched from regular buses to express ones (PATAS) in order to secure greater profit.

Fauzi said he would instruct Jakarta Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendy Sidabutar to immediately solve the problem, promising that the administration would not allow the poor to be victimized by the practice as they rely mostly on regular buses for transportation.

At least 1,272 regular buses operating in the city have reportedly disappeared from city streets in the past three years. Sources in the public transportation business said that many bus operators had converted their regular buses to express ones so they could impose a higher fare.

To date, there are 22,641 public buses operating in the capital, comprising 1,458 air-conditioned express buses, 1,896 non-air-conditioned express buses, 1,322 regular buses, 4,981 Metromini medium-sized buses, and 12,984 minivans. --JP.