Executive class bus to join busway

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.