City to sanction bus operators

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.