Jakarta's busway project infeasible

Jakarta's busway project infeasible

Bambang Nurbianto
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The busway project from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in
Central Jakarta is financially infeasible as it only serves 12.9
kilometers of road, a transportation expert says.

Lloyd Wright of the Bogota-based Institute for Transportation
and Development Policy said the first stage of a similar project
in Bogota, whose territory smaller than Jakarta, covered 40
kilometers of roads.

"Jakarta is larger than Bogota, therefore its first busway
project should cover more road," Wright told councillors and city
administration officials on Wednesday.

Wright did not elaborate on the calculation of the project
costs, but stressed the need for the city administration to
extend the road covered by the bus rapid transit project before
launching it.

He recommended the development of another busway running east
to west. He also stressed the need to develop feeder services.

"Without adequate feeder services, passengers may not move
from the old bus routes."

Wright also stressed the need to fully integrate the project
with other transportation systems in order to resolve
transportation problems in the city.

The Jakarta city administration has begun developing the bus
rapid transit, known as the busway project since last year as
part of the effort to resolve the city transportation problem.

But the project has sparked criticism from transportation
experts who believe it will fail. Some even say it will worsen
traffic congestion in several areas.

The project was expected to be launched late last year but was
delayed due to poor planning. Trials without passengers have been
underway since early this year.

The city administration allocated Rp 50.8 billion for the
project last year but costs have blown out to Rp 90.25 billion.

To save public funds, Wright advised the administration to
only use state funds to finance infrastructure and private money
to buy buses.

Wright said there were international financial institutions
who could be invited to help finance the project, but the city
administration should ensure that the project was the best
design.

He also stressed the need for a strong vision from senior city
officials to create a good transportation system.

City administration spokesman Muhayat said Governor Sutiyoso
would visit a number of cities in Latin America this month to
hold a comparative study on the bus systems. The cities would
include Bogota, Curittiba in Brazil, and Mexico City in Mexico.

He would leave the city on April 26 and returned on May 2.