Not so small a problem

Not so small a problem

On the face of it, it might seem that of all the requirements
set out in the new traffic law, closing doors should be one of
the easiest for city bus crews to comply with. That this is not
so, however, should be clear to anyone who has been on the
streets of Jakarta in the past few days. To protest the
regulation, hundreds of minibus crew members yesterday staged a
brief and peaceful strike at the Tanjung Priok bus terminal,
while hundreds of their colleagues in the Kota area also
protested.

As of yesterday, except for the more upscale air-conditioned
Patas express buses which carry a limited number of passengers
and make fewer stops, many buses continued dashing through the
streets with their doors open, picking up and dropping off
passengers even where they are not even supposed to stop. This
happens most on streets that the bus drivers know are not usually
watched or patrolled by traffic police, but such scenes are not
uncommon on major thoroughfares either.

As has been reported, the requirement for buses to keep their
doors closed was supposed to have come into effect on the first
of this month. However, to accommodate the wishes of bus crews
and owners and to give them more time to prepare, Jakarta's
police authorities decided to be lenient and allow bus and mini-
bus crews a few days of grace.

One might suspect that the possibility of unwanted reactions
from bus crews and owners helped persuade the authorities to be
lenient, although officials have denied this. When asked by
reporters about the possibility of boycotts by bus owners
protesting against the closed-door regulation, the head of the
City Traffic and Land Transportation Control Office, JP Sepang,
was reported to have retorted that the authorities were not
afraid of any retaliatory acts "because there are still many bus
companies waiting in line for operation permits."

Such arguments aside, however, one question worth asking is:
What is it that makes it so difficult for bus crews and owners to
comply with the regulation to drive with closed doors? From the
authorities' point of view, of course the benefits of requiring
buses and minibuses to drive with closed doors are obvious. For
instance, driving with closed doors forces the vehicles to make
their stops at the proper bus stops, thus reducing traffic
obstructions along the road. It also reduces the possibility of
unsavory elements taking a ride on buses and robbing or harassing
the passengers.

For the bus crews and owners, on the other hand, complying
with the regulation may mean a substantial reduction in income.
As one bus conductor told this newspaper: "Other regulations we
can observe, but not closing the doors." Among the regular
excuses bus crews put forward is that buses usually have only one
conductor, but two doors. Also, some crews claim that the new
policy only creates more loopholes that unscrupulous officials
can use in order to extort more money from them.

All of those arguments, on both sides, may of course be true.
The problem is, now that the ruling has been officially declared
to be in effect, what should be done in the case that more
protests do erupt and a temporary shortage in public
transportation means results? We hope there is substance in
Sepang's assurance that the authorities are not afraid because
"there are still many bus companies waiting in line for operating
permits."

In any case, it will certainly not be easy to properly control
bus crews' compliance with the closed-door regulation. On the
other hand the authorities are now committed to see their
measures through. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to strictly
control compliance along the city's major thoroughfares first and
from there expand the campaign throughout the city. For certain,
as far as the consumers of the services are concerned, it would
be admirable if the regulation could be properly enforced.