Night transportation not viable

Night transportation not viable

JAKARTA (JP): The City Traffic and Land Transportation Control Agency (DLLAJ) said yesterday that the night transportation provided by a number of city bus companies had proven to be unprofitable.

Head of the agency's transportation section Herman Tonglo Langi said that, due to the lack of profits, several bus companies that had previously been forced to operate at night now refused to do so.

"We have to tell the truth; that night transportation is only causing losses to transport companies and it is logical that most of them are reluctant to deploy their fleets at night," Herman said.

He said that the number of people who used public transport at night was limited, while the cost of operating the buses was high because the companies were forced to provide additional payments to the drivers and conductors.

The city administration has introduced night transport over the past few months for the benefit of night-shift workers and to curtail the operation of unauthorized 12-seat vans which have been the dominant means of transport at night. These vehicles are not considered suitable for passengers.

At the start of the scheme, the city ordered public transport companies to deploy 20 percent of their fleets at night.

Because night buses turned out to be a money-losing business, Herman said, there were only 10 routes which would continue to be served. The 10 routes include Pulogadung-Harapan Baru, Pulogadung-Tanah Tinggi, Kampung Rambutan-Bekasi and Kampung Rambutan-Grogol.

Separately, a city councilor said yesterday that the city administration should review its decision to deploy night buses.

"The city administration should review the decision because it only causes losses to transport companies," said Mansyur Ahmad, a member of the City Council's Commission A, which is in charge of government affairs.

As a first step, Ahmad said, the city administration should reveal the results of a study currently being conducted into night transportation so that bus companies would know the number of people who need bus services at night.

"Then they can deploy their fleets according to the demand," Ahmad added.

He hailed the DLLAJ's initiative to conduct research which, he said, was needed for the restructuring of night transportation routes.

Ahmad also proposed that large-capacity buses be replaced by minibuses, such as those managed by Koperasi Wahana Kalpika, as a means of making the business more profitable.(yns)