City undecided about bus fare hike plan
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration was still undecided on Saturday over an increase in public transportation fares following the recent fuel price hike.
"As of today, transportation companies which are represented by the Jakarta Land Transportation Agency (Organda), have yet to propose a fare hike," said Rustam Effendy, head of the city's transportation department.
Rustam told The Jakarta Post that during a meeting with Organda on Friday, Organda's chairman, Aip Syaifuddin, had stated that the agency, thus far, had no plans to increase fares.
Aip could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rustam, however, warned that public transportation owners had told him they would propose a fare increase should the price of spare parts also jump.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Auto Parts' Industries, A. Safiun, predicted that auto parts prices would remain stable for the immediate future.
Rustam said the administration would assemble public transportation owners on Monday to urge them not to increase fares.
"We will caution them (the owners) to abide by the existing tariffs. Should they break the rules, we will impose penalties on them," he vowed.
Taxi owners and bajaj (three-wheeled motorized pedicab) owners said spare parts costs accounted for the lion's share of their total maintenance costs.
"What matters for us is if spare parts prices and lubricant prices increase," said Lukita Leswari, who owns six taxis in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta.
He said besides paying Rp 70,000 (US$6.7) in rental charges per day, the drivers were responsible for filling up the cars with gasoline at their own expense.
Kusdiyanto Januar, who owns 10 bajaj at Kayu Manis in East Jakarta, said the fuel price increase could impact on the drivers, who would now have to spend extra money on fuel in addition their Rp 32,000 daily rental charge.
Hermawan, who runs a transport service firm in Kota, Central Jakarta, said that he did not have any plans to increase fares as he still managed to make a good profit due to many orders.
His company, which owns several minivans and trucks, has been transporting agricultural produce for the last five years.
Meanwhile, drivers were split over the idea of a fare hike. Some opposed the idea for fear of causing a decrease in the number of passengers, while others were adamant that an increase was necessary.
Agus Salim, a Koperasi Taxi driver, who was parking his car in front of the Cipto Mangunkusumo state hospital in Central Jakarta, was hopeful that fares would be increased. He complained he had to spend an additional Rp 5,000 on fuel which was taken out of his daily net income of Rp 50,000.
The new price ruling says diesel has risen to Rp 1,150 per liter from Rp 900, while premium gasoline has increased to Rp 1,550 from Rp 1,450.
Many public transportation drivers are still abiding by the old fares of between Rp 700 and Rp 4,000 per trip, but one passenger complained on Saturday that fares had been arbitrarily increased on her bus.
"Usually, I pay Rp 900, but this morning, I handed over Rp 1,000 and he didn't give me my change," he said on a bus plying the Lebak Bulus -- Kota route.
The last hike in public transportation fares was in July 2001, when regular bus fares were increased by between 28 percent and 50 percents following a fuel price increase the previous month.
While the Jakarta administration is still undecided about a fare increase, Depok municipality reportedly decided to increase public transportation fares by Rp 100 on Friday. But students will still be charged Rp 500 each.