Sutiyoso has rough maiden ride in new busway lane
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As Governor Sutiyoso wants the new busway corridors to start operation on Jan. 15 next year, Tuesday's trial did not make the prospects look very promising due to technical flaws.
Starting an hour late from the original schedule of 2 p.m., the maiden ride was marred by the failure of the compressed natural gas (CNG)-fueled bus, which Governor Sutiyoso, city officials and journalists were taking, to run at its expected speed due to apparent overloading.
Sutiyoso and his entourage took the busway at a shelter across from City Hall on Jl. Merdeka Selatan but were forced to get off the bus just meters away as the driver tried in vain to run the bus at its expected speed.
Instead of running at the anticipated speed of 60 kilometers per hour, the bus moved at a mere 10 kilometers per hour.
To save itself embarrassment, the trial committee took the initiative to transfer the passengers to a more powerful diesel- fueled bus it had borrowed from the first busway corridor before the convoy continued the trip to Pulogadung in East Jakarta.
The trip was repeatedly obstructed at some points when the busway lanes cut across regular roads jam packed with vehicles.
"It is not unusual to encounter technical flaws during a trial. The main objective of the tryout is to spot flaws so that we can immediately fix them," Sutiyoso said.
Sutiyoso said he had instructed his subordinates to work around the clock within the three coming weeks in order to finalize the construction of busway infrastructure, including the lanes, lane dividers, shelters and pedestrian bridges before the busway corridors II and III are launched on Jan. 15.
Corridor II spans from Pulogadung to Harmoni in Central Jakarta, while corridor III from Harmoni to Kalideres in West Jakarta.
During Tuesday's trial, the Jakarta Transportation Agency only operated five buses, three of which were CNG-fueled buses produced by South Korean firm Daewoo and two diesel-fueled buses.
Jakarta Transportation Agency deputy head Udar Pristono said that the trial would be made three times a week every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Unlike the launch of the first busway corridor from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, the trial would not be open to the public. Only city officials, journalists and other invited guests would have the chance to ride the new buses.
The Jakarta Post observed that some workers were still busy placing lane dividers on Jl. Suryopranoto, while other workers near Gambir train station were working on the bus shelter.
As Sutiyoso is insisting on launching the new busway projects on Jan. 15, the administration plans to borrow most of the buses for corridors II and III from the first busway corridor as it has yet to ready imported CNG-fueled buses from South Korea, which are expected to start operation in April next year.