Jakarta to operate 1,000 new, wide-bodied buses

JAKARTA (JP): One-thousand wide-bodied buses may soon reinforce Jakarta's currently existing fleet to meet the public's growing demand for transportation.

The measure will involve operating 500 new buses and re- operating 500 refurbished, old ones, a top city transportation official said yesterday.

"I am going to ask Governor Surjadi Soedirdja for his approval for the addition. When approved, I will see to it that each wide- bodied bus serves the function of two smaller ones," J.P. Sepang, the head of the City Land Transportation and Traffic Control Office (DLLAJR) told reporters.

Sepang said an undersupply of public transport vehicles in the city has been felt since his office launched a strict traffic dragnet on March 22.

There was more bad news for the Metromini transportation company when Sepang announced on Thursday that 194 Metromini buses had been impounded by his office for a number of violations by their crews.

This campaign includes the revocation of the operating licenses for public transport companies if any their vehicles are found to have caused traffic accidents or endangered the public's safety.

A more lenient action -- involving a week-long suspension and impounding of offending vehicles -- has also been applied to public transport companies whose drivers are found to have been guilty of driving without complete driving documents, without wearing their company uniforms, running their vehicles outside the given routes, dropping off passengers at will, overcrowding their vehicles with passengers, or committing other offenses.

When asked what has caused the undersupply, Sepang said bus owners may prefer not to operate unsafe buses rather than risking having their buses impounded.

Commenting on two Metromini minibuses whose drivers allegedly used false inspection documents (kir palsu), Sepang said he would revoke their route licenses (izin trayek).

Bubung Burhana, the subdivisional head of South Jakarta's DLLAJR, said on Thursday that the inspection documents for two Metromini buses had been forged.

Meanwhile a number of owners of "Metromini" minibuses this week blasted the continuous public scrutiny of their company, which they referred to as "cruel".

The public wrath directed towards the Metromini bus company reached its peak following an accident involving one of their vehicles, which occurred on March 6. The incident involved a Metromini minibus driven by Ramses Silitonga which careened into the Sunter river in North Jakarta. Thirty-three of the minibuses passengers were killed and several more injured in the accident.(06)