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