Proposed bus fare increase prompts public outcry

JAKARTA (JP): Councilors and commuters voiced yesterday their opposition to a proposed fare increase for city buses and minibuses of between 70 percent and 150 percent.

Those contacted by The Jakarta Post said the proposition was unacceptable, particularly at a time when it would further burden low-income people who were the main users of cheap transportation.

"The companies, instead, should lower the fares in a bid to assist low-income Jakartans encountering financial problems," councilor Soeparmo, head of Commission E for social welfare, said.

High school student Iman worried that the hike, if approved, would encourage bus drivers not to pick up students, whose tariffs would not be changed.

"If they increase it, I believe most bus drivers will be more reluctant to let us on," Iman said.

Owners of green-and-white Kopaja minibuses proposed Monday to raise fares from Rp 400 to Rp 1,000 per passenger.

Pahala Kencana, a private operator of wide-bodied buses, also asked permission to hike the tariffs of its regular buses from Rp 300 to Rp 500 per head.

According to executives of the two firms, the proposals submitted to the city's Land Transportation Owners Organization (Organda DKI) was aimed at ensuring the fleets could continue operating despite rising operational costs, particularly the price of spare parts.

"The prices of spare parts have jumped 200 percent. This is crazy. Before the economic crisis (last July), the price of a bus tire, for instance, was only Rp 180,000. Now it is Rp 230,000.

"The service fee for blowing an engine has leapt from Rp 2.5 million to Rp 5 million," the head of Kopaja's operational division, Syarifudin, said Monday.

Robbi from Pahala Kencana bus company said his firm was also facing similar financial and operational problems.

"Therefore, if it is possible, we would like to increase our regular bus tariffs from Rp 300 to Rp 500. Hopefully it will help us cope with the bad situation," he said.

Syarifudin said more than half of Kopaja's 1,600 minibuses have stopped operating because the owners could no longer afford to pay for spare parts.

"It's a chain reaction (following the fall of the rupiah since July). Therefore, we have no choice but to ask for a fare raise. I know this will certainly burden the passengers, but we have no choice ... we're on the verge of bankruptcy here," he said.

Commuters in the city have -- in the past two weeks -- noticed the absence of some minibuses and buses, including those operated by the city-owned bus company PPD.

No way

After receiving the proposals, Organda DKI announced its strong objection to the hike.

"We've decided that no matter how hard the problem is, we will not agree to raise the transportation fees now. It will only make things worse," Azrul Azis Taba, from the organization, said

Azrul instead called on local authorities to help reduce the price of spare parts and eliminate unnecessary, illegal levies which have burdened public transportation crews for years.

Councilor Soeparmo said he could not completely understood the difficulties experienced by the public transportation owners, but a fare hike would only add to the misery of many people.

Councilor Saud Rachman from Commission D for development affairs said the government should think about how to supply transportation companies with adequate and reasonably priced spare parts.

"Raising the fee is looking for a shortcut without getting to the heart of the problem. It's not the public that has jacked up the price of vehicle spare parts. So why do people have to pay more?

"Therefore, I suggest the companies stick to the existing tariffs. If they want to make some adjustment, it has to be done step by step, not abruptly, especially in this turbulent time."

Maryani, a private employee in the city's prestigious business district of Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, said she would probably have to use her meal allowance to compensate for the increases.

"So please don't raise the bus tariffs," she said.

Based on the Post's observations, some bus crew have already started increasing the fares.

The student tariff of Rp 200 per head has been doubled by some conductors.

"Nothing is cheap now, ma'am," one of the bus conductors said.

In Bogor, mikrolet drivers have also taken it upon themselves to increase their tariffs slightly, for example, from Rp 300 to Rp 400 per passenger.

The drivers offered the same excuse as their Jakartan counterparts for the hike.

The head of Organda in Bogor, A. Chotib Malik, said the increase was not a big problem unless passengers started to complain.

"The driver could be charged with committing a crime only if they forced passengers to pay the unofficial tariff," he said yesterday.

Chotib was apparently unaware that the drivers' illegal actions had already received strong criticism from passengers.

"Do the drivers think that they are the only ones who are struggling during the current economic crisis?" a passenger, Janter Panjaitan, said.

Chotib said the organization had just received Rp 240 million in credit from the Ministry of Transportation which vehicle owners could borrow in order to purchase spare parts. Interest would be charged at the rate of six percent per annum. (edt/24)