New bus fares

New bus fares

The Jakarta City Council has finally agreed to increase bus fares by between 17 percent and 22 percent. The decision becomes effective this month.

The political factions at the council said the increase in fares must coincide with an improvement in services to passengers. The council threatened to review its approval (on the new fares) if the precondition was violated.

The threat will remain useless if there is no adequate enforcement, yet written laws have also been ignored and violated in this country. Daily street violations are good examples.

The ultimatum, is however, relevant to the bus crew's treatment of passengers. They are always badly treated by the bus crew. It's time for Governor Sutiyoso to try the public bus to see how the bus crews operate.

As the capital administrator, Sutiyoso must respect his own citizens, or else the citizens will no longer respect him.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta