Jakarta's public transport slowing to a halt
Jakarta's public transport slowing to a halt
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): It was about 10 a.m. A young woman kept on
looking at her watch and stared down the street. Sweat made her
face wet and her hair damp. More than 30 minutes had passed, yet
there was no sign of the bus she was waiting for.
Almost an hour after she arrived she was still there, at a bus
stop in front of Atmajaya University on Jl. Jend. Sudirman,
Central Jakarta.
"I don't understand why buses to Depok have not shown up yet.
I've been here for almost an hour," complained Petra, a
university student. "Usually, I have to wait for 15 minutes at
most before the bus comes," she added.
She used to take a Rp 700 (5 U.S. cents) nonregular bus
instead of the Rp 2,300 air-conditioned limited passenger (Patas)
bus to the University of Indonesia in Depok, where she
occasionally borrows books from the library.
"After waiting this long, I wouldn't mind taking air-
conditioned buses even though they are more expensive," Petra
said.
Like Petra, many other public transportation users have to
spend more time waiting for the bus. And when their buses finally
show up, they are already full. Many passengers have to stand up,
face to face with other sweating travelers. People crowd not only
the regular and nonregular buses, but occasionally also the air-
conditioned ones.
Even without reading newspapers, public transport users know
that fewer and fewer buses are now on the roads.
According to official data, 5,002 buses and 4,911 minibuses
were operating in the capital last year.
The Jakarta Land Transportation Agency said last month that
due to the monetary crisis, 50 percent of public buses and
minibuses could not operate. Many bus owners can no longer afford
to buy spare parts as prices have surged by up to 300 percent.
Syarifuddin, head of the operational division of the Jakarta
Public Transportation Cooperative (Kopaja), one of the public
transport operators, said that at present, the company could only
operate 660 out of its 1,480 buses.
"Most of the buses are out-of-order and can't ply the usual
routes," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said 60 percent of the Kopaja buses needed new tires and 30
percent of them needed new spare parts.
But now, he said, a new inner tube, which pre-crisis cost Rp
35,000 each, is now priced at Rp 115,000. A new tire, once
available for Rp 260,000, now costs Rp 570,000.
"And if we want to buy second hand tires instead of the new
one, it's hard to find," Syarifuddin said.
The company's income has consequently declined as fewer buses
are operating in the city. Previously, it could earn around Rp
120,000 a day from each bus, but now it's only between Rp 95,000
and Rp 100,000, he added.
And at present, only 1,200 of the 4,000 Kopaja drivers work
every day, as most of them have to take turns on the available
buses. "The drivers arrange their own shifts," Syarifuddin said.
The drivers consider themselves lucky even though they earn
less money.
"It's hard to get halal (legal) work these days. Who's going
to hire me? My only skill is driving. So I intend to keep my job
as a driver even though I have to work in shifts," said Agus, a
Kopaja driver plying Tanah Abang to Blok M in South Jakarta.
But not all drivers are willing to work shifts, he added.
"Some of my friends returned to their hometowns or have become
traders," Agus said.
Agus himself shares a bus with two other drivers.
"Sometimes I work from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and hand over the bus
to another driver, but there are times when I work the whole day
and then have a day off the next day," said the father of three.
Before Agus began working in shifts he could take home about
Rp 40,000 a day. "But now it's only around Rp 20,000 at most," he
sighed.
As fewer buses are operating in the city, users have to allow
more time for their journeys.
Supriadi and his wife, who live in Bekasi, east of the city,
have to get up earlier now.
"We used to leave home at around six in the morning but now we
have to leave half-an-hour earlier," he said.
He works on Jl. Hayamwuruk, West Jakarta, and his wife's
office is on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.
Until last July, he said, plenty of buses serving Bekasi-
Jakarta ran from early in the morning until late at night.
Now, getting a bus to take him home at night is another
stressful problem.
"Once, I had to work late, until 9 p.m. But there were no
buses in sight so I had to get a taxi home. The cost killed me.
It was more than Rp 35,000," said Supriadi, who is now thinking
of buying a second-hand car.
But not everyone has the luxury of that solution. Some do not
have any option at all.
"Taking the bus is the only possible transportation choice for
me," said Kurnia, a photocopy shop employee.
He is willing to suffer. He does not care about being in a
crowded bus, standing up all the way to work or risking himself
by hanging in the bus' doorway.
"It's all right. I'm used to it," he said calmly.
Karyati, a food seller in Bendungan Hilir market, complained
about fewer buses and increasing bus fares. Every day, she has to
go to Senen market to buy her merchandise before opening her
stall in the market.
"I don't understand. I pay more for the bus now, but I have to
wait much longer," she sighed.
Bus fares increased in May to help bus owners survive the
crisis. The fare for air-conditioned Patas buses was increased
from Rp 1,800 to Rp 2,300, while the fare for Kopaja and
Metromini minibuses was raised from Rp 400 to Rp 500.
The fares for regular and nonregular buses remain the same, Rp
300 and Rp 700 per passenger respectively.