Joint team set to evaluate bus fare hike

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council will form a joint team to study the possibility of raising bus fares in the capital.

The decision was made on Monday after the councillors failed to reach an agreement with the City Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ) on an increase in bus fares.

According to the plan, members of the team will include representatives from DLLAJ, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and the Public Land Transportation Owners Organization (Organda).

The announcement was read by Sayogo, chairman of the council's Commission D for development affairs. Sayogo also led the meeting, which was addressed by a transportation expert from the University of Indonesia, Sutanto Soehodo.

The central government recently announced plans to raise bus fares in accordance with its plan to increase fuel prices.

In line with this plan, the city administration has proposed raising the fares of regular buses from Rp 300 to Rp 500. Organda wants the new fare set at Rp 1,000 and YLKI wants it at Rp 900, but both have asked bus owners to improve their services along with the increased fare.

Sayogo said the councillors would discuss the proposed team with YLKI on Wednesday.

Councillor Tjuk Sudono from the National Mandate Party (PAN) said: "Increasing bus fares is reasonable only if it accommodates the consumers' interests, in this case represented by YLKI."

Sutanto urged the councillors and the city administration to provide details of the planned fare hike to the public in a transparent and accountable way.

"We also need to set certain standards for the public bus service. It's unfair if the people are burdened with the hike while the service remains very poor," he said.

He also noted the amount of money from city buses that went into the city budget was relatively small because of corruption.

In response to Sutanto's remarks, DLLAJ head Buyung Atang promised to monitor such wrongdoings.

Buyung pledged that if the councillors agreed to raise the bus fares in the capital, DLLAJ would reach a written agreement with the 14 bus company owners in which the owners would promise to meet certain obligations, including improving the condition of their vehicles and providing better salaries for their bus crews.

"This agreement will bind the owners and we will sanction them if they break it," he said.

According to Buyung, some 20 percent of the 17,000 buses in Jakarta are in poor condition.

"About 20 percent of the buses here have been operated for more than 20 years, 10 percent for more than 15 years and 40 percent for more than 10 years," he said.

The buses remain in service because of the shortage of buses to accommodate the millions of commuters in the capital.

"Hopefully by this month, the 20-year-old buses will not be used anymore and will be replaced by new ones," he said.(09)