Number of cheap buses drops by more than half

Number of cheap buses drops by more than half

JAKARTA (JP): The number of operable buses on which fares are
Rp 300 (US 13 cents) has dropped by 50 percent as the owners have
no funds to maintain and repair the broken down vehicles,
transport officials claim.

"Owners do not have the funds to repair their buses," said Aip
Syarifuddin, chairman of the association of public transportation
owners (Organda) said yesterday.

He confirmed that in the past year the number of regular buses
such as Metro Mini and Kopaja has dropped, though he could not
give a number.

In a separate development, Juhdi, the head of the
transportation business section of the city's Land Transport
Control Agency also said that the number of both state-owned and
privately-owned regular buses has decreased by 50 percent in the
last 12 months.

Juhdi said that of the city's 20,215 buses there are 16,678 on
which fares are Rp 300.

"Private owners ask us for business permits to operate express
buses, as operating regular buses is no longer profitable," Juhdi
said.

He said that the number of state-owned regular buses, PPD, has
dropped from 1,479 to 664 buses.

The officials were responding to passengers' complaints that
regular buses have been hard to find lately.

Passengers said there are an increasing number of express
buses charging Rp 550.

Both Aip and Juhdi said separately that owners could not
repair the regular buses because the operational and maintenance
costs are so high.

Public transport owners have been practicing "cannibalism," he
added.

"We take good parts of damaged buses and use them on those in
relatively better condition."

"Of every two buses only one can be used," he said.

In a recent meeting with Organda, Haryanto told them that
fares are not decided by the Ministry alone but by several other
government bodies.

In 1995 Organda proposed significant hikes in bus fares to the
Ministry of Transportation. They wanted the Rp 300 fare (US 13
cents) to rise to Rp 500.

The proposal met strong opposition from councilors, drivers
and passengers, who said owners were only after greater profits.

Aip said, however, Organda still hopes fares can be raised in
April, but the government has not given them the green light.

"Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto told us to be patient," Aip
said. (anr)