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.