Executive class bus to join busway
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Just three weeks after the busway was launched on Jan. 15, the TransJakarta Busway management has said it plans to add executive-class buses and widen the corridor to allow for overtaking, which will impinge upon the rights of other road users.
"The executive buses will need more space to pass the regular buses, because they will only stop at one designated shelter," management head Irzal Z. Djamal said on Friday. "Therefore, we will widen the lane at every busway shelter."
The widening of the 12.9-kilometer busway corridor will scrap some parts of the median strip, particularly along Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman in downtown Jakarta, to make way for the overtaking lane.
The lane must be at least nine meters wide for buses to pass each other, and the existing lane is only 3.5 meters wide.
When the Jakarta administration cut the median strip for the construction of busway shelters, the policy was condemned by activists and the public.
TransJakarta infrastructure head Taufik Adiwianto said the executive buses would only stop once along the Blok M-Kota route.
"We haven't decided the executive bus stop, but it could either be the shelter in front of Sarinah department store or the Harmoni shelter," he said.
Taufik admitted that the widened busway lane would cause a major traffic jam, particularly during rush hour.
"We hope the Jakarta Transportation Agency will design a comprehensive traffic scheme to overcome the bottlenecks," he said.
The executive-class busway project will be implemented only after 140 regular buses are fully operational. Only 50 busway buses are running at present.
Irzal was reluctant to mention a time frame, and merely said they were awaiting public input "to decide whether to go ahead with the project".
An urban planning expert at Trisakti University, Yayat Supriyatna, has already lambasted the plan, saying the executive bus would deal another severe blow to the already congested main thoroughfare of the capital.
"Many people working at offices along the busway corridor have complained about the traffic jams caused by the exclusive busway lane, which has narrowed the fast lane, and the extended three-in-one policy that was imposed to support the project. I can't imagine what will happen if this plan takes effect," he said.
Yayat said the plan had a good chance of backfiring on the city, because it could make the areas along the corridor -- which leads to the heart of Jakarta's business district -- less lucrative.
He also criticized the busway project as a microscopic measure to address the mammoth traffic problems in the city.
"Jakarta needs a more macro approach which, of course, will take longer studies and research to develop."
Jakartans are invited to comment on the executive bus idea via the TransJakarta Busway hotline at (021) 531 1135.