PPD to cooperate with private firms to manage public buses

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned bus company, PPD, is studying proposals from a number of private companies to jointly operate more than 1,000 gas-powered public buses in the city.

Yahya Subandi, the president of PPD, told reporters during a break in a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday that the study is needed due to lack of condensed- natural-gas (CNG) stations.

"We don't have even a single CNG station equipped with more than a 200 bar pressure pump," Yahya said, adding that the company is studying the possibility of operating mobile CNG units for the time being as an alternative.

He said that some private companies, including the Senawangi business group and PT Fajar Utama Mandiri, have submitted their proposals to him to jointly operate the gas-powered buses.

"The project should be mutually beneficial to each party," he said, declining to give details of the joint cooperation project.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto confirmed yesterday that the government will operate around 1,300 CNG- powered public buses in the city in a bid to better serve commuters in the Greater Jakarta area.

Jakarta, the most populous capital city in Southeast Asia, is home to eight million people by night and 10 million during the daytime with the arrival of commuters.

In a related development, Pos Kota reported yesterday that executives of PPD have conducted a road test for the operation of 1,000 Japanese-made buses which will be jointly used by the state-owned company with PT Fajar Utama Mandiri, a private bus firm.

The daily quoted Darius Djana, the operational director of PPD, as saying that Nissan buses are simple to drive.

In its proposal, PT Fajar Utama Mandiri said it has agreed to finance the purchase of 1,000 buses, half of which will be express buses. The fleet will operate from PPD's depots in Tangerang, Bekasi, Serpong, Ciracas and Depok -- all in West Java.

The procurement of the buses will cost Rp 163 billion (US$77.6 million) while constructing the depots will reach Rp 15 billion.

According to its management, some 1,400 PPD buses cruise Jakarta's streets everyday.

But informed sources said that PPD operates only 900 buses, saying that 500 of its fleet have been idle due to technical problems.

Jakarta currently has some 170,000 public vehicles with a combined capacity of transporting 4.5 million people each day, including 800,000 school children. (09)