Minister casts doubt on success of busway, 3-in-1

Minister casts doubt on success of busway, 3-in-1

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar expressed doubts on
Thursday about the likely success of the busway project and the
three-in-one traffic policy extension by the Jakarta
administration.

"It's a huge change in the transportation system and would
entail the proper preparation of human resources to enable it to
succeed. Before being implementation, I want to see the busway
being evaluated thoroughly, especially the support facilities,"
he said during a presentation by the busway team led by Irzal
Djamal, who is also the assistant to the city secretary for
development affairs.

The busway is scheduled to kick off on Jan. 15, in line with
the extension and expansion of the new three-in-one traffic
policy, a tryout of which is slated to start on Monday.

The new policy requires private vehicles to carry at least
three passengers when traveling in the busway corridor from Blok
M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta, between 6:30 a.m. to 8
p.m. The corridor includes Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. M.H.
Thamrin in Central Jakarta.

Agum suggested the administration consider pushing back the
planned starting date for the busway to ensure all facilities
were ready.

"The availability of parking lots for car owners so that they
can switch to buses to take them into the heart of the city, and
the provision of feeder services have to be ensured to make the
system work," he said, adding that this would also avoid
complaints from commuters from outside Jakarta.

For private motorists, Agum suggested a road-pricing policy,
in which motorists driving alone would have to pay to enter the
three-in-one zone.

His suggestion was seconded by the Director General of Land
Transportation, Iskandar Abu Bakar, who asserted that private
motorists working in offices along Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl.
M.H. Thamrin were some of the country's biggest taxpayers.

"The problem has to be addressed as they (private motorists)
won't easily give up their habit of using their cars. We have to
admit that the businesses located along these streets have been
the main financial supports of the city," said Iskandar.

He also said that the idea of barring cars with certain
license plate numbers from entering the central zone on certain
days would not do any good.

"People with a lot of money will just buy a new car that has
different digits at the end of its license plate number,"
Iskandar said.

Irzal said that the three-in-one policy could be rolled back
should it fail to ease the traffic jams. He failed, however, to
elaborate on the definition of failure.

He also said that the administration would revoke the licenses
of 149 buses belonging to four bus operators, which currently
operate on the Blok M - Kota route.

The four operators -- PPD, Steady Safe, Pahala Kencana and
Bianglala -- would form a consortium for the purpose of receiving
compensation for the revoked licenses.

"Bianglala has yet to accept the plan because they are also
demanding that their buses be allowed to operate in the slow
lane," said Irzal.