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.