Jakarta may increase bus fares by up to 57 percent

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the government's promised subsidy for bus operators, the Jakarta administration has proposed to the City Council an increase of between 30 percent and 60 percent in public transportation fares following the recent fuel price hike.

Governor Sutiyoso disclosed on Wednesday that he had sent the proposal to the council for approval and expected that the council would give the go-ahead by the end of the week.

"If the subsidy from the central government for bus operators is disbursed, then the decision to increase bus fares will be reviewed," he promised.

But he did not clarify whether he would restore the old fares should the government channel the promised subsidy of Rp 216.4 billion (US$29 million) to bus operators.

However, bus operators were skeptical that the government was really serious about the subsidy as it was still unclear how the government would monitor its allocation.

Sutiyoso said the proposed increases in bus fares were based on the recent 30 percent rise in fuel prices, field surveys by the city administration and calculations carried out by the Ministry of Communications.

Although Sutiyoso insisted on Wednesday that he would only approve an increase of between 30 percent and 40 percent, the proposal presented to the council allowed for a maximum rise of 57 percent.

Under the governor's proposal, the fares for regular economy buses are to be increased from Rp 500 to Rp 1,000 (50 percent), for limited seat buses from Rp 700 to Rp 1,100 (57 percent), for medium buses, like Metromini and Kopaja, from Rp 700 to Rp 1,000 (42 percent), and for air-conditioned buses from Rp 2,500 to Rp 3,500 (40 percent).

The student fare for all types of buses, excluding air- conditioned buses, will increase from Rp 200 to Rp 300 (50 percent).

Jakarta's Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) had proposed that the city administration increase bus fares by up to 100 percent. They threatened that their drivers would strike if their demands for fare increases were not met.

Bus drivers from the city's largest bus operator, Mayasari Bhakti, staged a limited strike on Monday and Tuesday, to demand, among other things, an increase in bus fares.

Although the governor's eventual proposal was lower than the proposal submitted by Organda, it was still considered too high by city councillors considering the fuel price increase was 30 percent.

"In this difficult situation, the proposed bus fare increase is too high. We will probably approve a rise of between 20 percent and 40 percent," the chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's faction on the council, Audy I. Z. Tambunan, said.

Audy criticized the bus operators who, he said, always claimed that the prices of spare parts had also increased so that bus fares should be increased by more than the fuel price increase.

"Bus operators are only out to feather their own nests without thinking about the public interest," Audy asserted.

The chairwoman of the National Mandate Party's faction on the council, Wasilah Sutrisno, went so far as to reject the proposed fare increases, saying that bus operators should improve their services before demanding fare rises. (jun/04)