For Clean Air, Transjakarta Switches to Electric Buses

JAKARTA - Despite the high investment cost of purchasing electric buses, Transjakarta has been steadily increasing the number of electric buses in its services since 2022. Gatot Indra Koswara, Principal Specialist for Transformation and Change Management at Transjakarta, stated that one electric bus unit can save up to Rp302 million in central government diesel fuel subsidies per year. “One conventional TransJakarta bus requires around 39,238 litres of diesel per year. From this requirement, the potential subsidy savings can reach approximately Rp302 million per unit each year,” Gatot said during a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the Strategic Transport Initiative (Instran) a few days ago. However, he noted that the higher price of electric buses is offset by energy costs that are four times cheaper than internal combustion engine (ICE) buses. Additionally, the maintenance costs for electric buses are twice as low as for conventional buses. According to Gatot, the use of electric buses offers an opportunity for the central government and local government to save on diesel fuel subsidies for Transjakarta. Moreover, it will result in better air quality since they produce no emissions. “Ultimately, public transportation services in Jakarta will be better,” he said.