Jakarta's busing woes

Jakarta's busing woes

Millions of Jakarta commuters drew a sigh of relief yesterday
when the threatened transportation strike by Organda, the
Organization of Land Transportation Company Owners, did not
materialize -- or at least not as fully as many had expected and
feared.

Though the number of vehicles on which a large majority of the
city's population depend for daily transportation to and from
work or school was noticeably less than on normal weekdays, no
serious problems occurred.

For one thing, it seems bus company owners and crews were not
fully in accord about how to go about pressuring the authorities
into agreeing to the long needed fare hikes without doing too
much harm to the public's interests. While reasonable fare hikes
are incontestably needed to enable bus companies to survive
economically, many crew members seemed to fear that a strike
would result not only in a loss of income, but a possible violent
backlash from protesting commuters as well.

But even though chaos was averted this time, the public as
well as the authorities are well advised to keep in mind that the
problem of public transportation in the capital city is far from
over. Indeed, unless urgent and effective steps are taken to put
the public transportation system in order, a similar threat in
the not too distant future is likely to occur.

Unfortunately, bringing order to Jakarta's public
transportation system is something that is much easier said than
done.

On the one side, owners of the private companies that operate
more than 8,000 buses and minibuses have long complained that it
is impossible for them to properly maintain, much less renew,
their aging fleets under the fares currently sanctioned by the
administration.

On the other side, those who most depend on the system's
services are low-paid wage earners, traders and students for whom
even the current fares are a burden to their daily budgets.

Thus, any fare hike needs to be carefully studied by the city
authorities before endorsement can be granted.

This conflict of needs is the starting point of a lamentable
situation in which bus owners find it hard to maintain their
fleets. Since buses are poorly maintained (and bus company
personnel poorly paid), buses swiftly fall into disrepair. With
insufficient money to buy spare parts, cannibalism occurs. The
result is increasingly un-roadworthy buses, declining service,
and hence the public's legitimate reluctance to pay higher fares.

And so the cycle continues.

The obvious question is how or where to break this cycle.
Clearly, better management of bus companies is imperative, but
for such an improvement, money is needed. Perhaps, the bus
companies, the Ministry of Transportation, and whoever else is
responsible for improving public transportation services would do
well to look at the state railroad company, PNKA, for
inspiration.

In the railroad industry it is no secret that popular routes
such as the Jabotabek line between Bogor and Jakarta, whose
subscribers are mostly lower-paid government and private company
employees, traders and students, generally lose money. On the
other hand, upper-class routes, such as those that run between
Jakarta and Surabaya or Yogyakarta with their plush air-
conditioned cars and luxurious services are good profit earners.

Those facts considered, it could be that the time has come for
the authorities to experiment by encouraging entrepreneurs to
operate more comfortable buses that cater to the better-earning
population groups in the community -- obviously at commensurate
fares. Those earnings could then be used, or taxed, in part to
operate low-fare inner-city routes for the larger mass of
commuters.

But whatever steps are taken, it is clear that something must
be done to improve Jakarta's public transportation system. The
solution needs to provide more comfortable, yet still affordable,
transportation and be profitable enough for operators to properly
maintain their fleets and pay their employees a reasonable wage.