'Orange team' to replace rude busway guards
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As complaints over indisciplined security officers on Jakarta's sole busway continue to increase, busway operator BP TransJakarta says it will replace the current officers with "more friendly, trained officers".
"Starting June 1, we will deploy around 200 new security officers aboard our buses. They have been specially trained to serve passengers quickly and efficiently in a more friendly way," TransJakarta head Irzal Z Djamal said on Wednesday.
Twenty of them were women, he added, which complemented the management's earlier decision to employ women as bus drivers.
The new officers, who will sport orange uniforms, are now receiving public service, physical and traffic regulation training in Lido, Sukabumi, West Java, and at TransJakarta's headquarters in Pinang Ranti, East Jakarta.
Irzal said that the new officers would replace the current 250 officers from the Jakarta Public Order Agency deployed by the city administration to stand guard on board the buses.
"We have received complaints over indisciplined security officers, including some who were found smoking in the busway stops," he admitted.
According to Irzal, Jakarta Public Order Agency officers would continue to provide security at busway stops and bridges.
He added that the operator was also looking into the possibility of operating articulated buses in order to boost capacity in response to the appraisal made by a New York-based non-governmental organization, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).
"We tested an articulated bus belonging to state-run bus company DAMRI on the Blok M-Kota busway corridor and found it feasible ... the bus could take the corners smoothly even at the narrow turning point in Kota," he said.
Articulated buses would be able to accommodate up to 200 passengers per bus, compared to the current 80 passengers per bus.
ITDP, which also provides technical assistance to the TransMilenio busway project in Bogota, Columbia, on which Jakarta based its busway project, recommended the use of articulated buses to increase the capacity of the busway to 9,600 passengers per hour per direction, compared to the current 2,700 passengers per hour per direction.
The ITDP has also recommended that the administration install additional doors in the buses and shelters to facilitate alighting and disembarking passengers, and thereby shorten stopping times.
According to the ITDP, the installation of additional doors in the buses and shelters would significantly shorten the current stopping time of 45 seconds to only 22 seconds.
Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo said that the administration would seriously consider the advice it received from the ITDP and promised technical adjustments to planned new busway projects.
The administration is currently constructing new busway routes connecting Pulogadung in East Jakarta to Harmoni in Central Jakarta, and Harmoni to Kalideres in West Jakarta. The new routes are due to come into operation in December.