East-west busway corridor begin to begin soon
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The next busway route will connect the Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta through Harmoni, down to Kalideres in West Jakarta, TransJakarta Busway management said on Thursday.
"The construction of infrastructure for the new corridor will begin next year," director Irzal Z. Djamal said at City Hall.
Infrastructure division head Taufik Adiwianto said a joint team, including busway management, communications, parks and public works officials, along with others from Jakarta municipalities, would conduct a feasibility survey.
It would be followed by a technical analysis of the busway, which would study public demand, he said.
"If the demand is high, we will consider using articulated trolley buses to accommodate more passengers," he said.
The new corridor would cross the existing busway route from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta at Harmoni.
"There will be a transit terminal established at Harmoni. Passengers who want to continue their trip on another busway route will be transferred to other buses. There will be no additional charges for transit passengers," Irzal said.
The new corridor would pass at least three main railway stations -- Senen in Central Jakarta, either Gambir or Juanda in Central Jakarta, and Duri in Roxy, West Jakarta.
"We have decided the new corridor will connect Pulogadung and Senen via Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan and Jl. Lt. Jend. Suprapto. But we have not decided yet whether the busway will pass Kwitang, Jl. Kwini, or Lapangan Banteng to reach Kalideres," Taufik said.
The administration plans to construct a total of 14 busway corridors across the capital.
Management welcomed the proposal made by state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia to integrate its three Jakarta railway stations into the busway system, Irzal said.
"We have not meet with PT KAI yet. But, we will arrange a meeting with them to discuss the details," he said.
PT KAI director for operation region I Rachmadi Wahabi, who supervises Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi, said on Wednesday his office was considering revamping the Dukuh Atas, Juanda and Kota stations to fit in with the city's busway feeder system.
Dukuh Atas served 40,000 passengers a day, Juanda 10,000, while Kota served 25,000, he said.