Solo Examines Bike to Work and Public Transport for Civil Servants

Solo Mayor Respati Ardi stated that the Solo City Government is preparing several strategic steps to respond to the national energy saving or efficiency programme, particularly among civil servants (ASN). One of them is the bike-to-work policy or cycling to work, in line with the directive from Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi. In addition, the local government will encourage Solo ASN to use public transport. Respati explained that this policy aims to reduce dependence on private vehicles while curbing fuel oil (BBM) consumption. He hopes that employees in the Solo City Government environment can switch to more environmentally friendly modes of transport. “We will once again promote the use of public transport. We are also examining the implementation of bike-to-work for ASN,” Respati said when met at the Solo Financial Services Authority (OJK) office on Tuesday, 31 March 2026. Respati said a decision on the policy would be made soon. Even this plan will involve the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), including TNI and Police elements. This energy-saving step is prepared in response to the potential rise in BBM prices, although there has been no official decision from the central government to date. Nevertheless, Respati assured that the BBM stock situation in Solo remains safe. “We have coordinated with Pertamina, and the BBM stock is still sufficient. The public does not need to panic or make excessive purchases,” he said. In addition to promoting public transport, the Solo City Government has previously implemented other energy efficiency policies. These include the work-from-anywhere (WFA) system, regulating room cooling to a minimum temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, and restricting electricity use at certain times. In the future, these efficiency policies will continue to be strengthened while awaiting further directives from the central government. The Solo City Government is also considering reducing official vehicle operations, as long as it does not disrupt services to the public. “Reducing the use of official vehicles is possible, provided it does not impact public services. Public services remain the top priority,” Respati said. Regarding the energy-saving plan, one ASN in the Solo City Government environment, Didi, welcomed it. “For the alternative of using public transport, I agree. Because my house is quite strategically located and accessible to public transport corridors,” Didi said. However, Didi highlighted that there are still certain areas in Solo City that are not served by public transport routes. There are also issues with public transport departure schedules. “For public transport, the problem is whether there are routes that reach there? And also the bus waiting interval. In my opinion, that needs to be considered,” he said. As for implementing the cycling-to-work policy, Didi said it also needs to consider the distance accessibility from home to office. “What will the technicalities be like? It needs to consider the distance from home to office, and also the technicalities for those tasked with facilitating leaders’ activities with high daily mobility,” he said.