Sutiyoso ponders plan to scrap Patas buses
Sutiyoso ponders plan to scrap Patas buses
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso insisted on Tuesday that he
would consider scrapping nonairconditioned express and limited
Patas buses for failure to give proper service to passengers.
The governor, better known as Bang (brother) Yos, said that he
also acknowledged the Patas buses' service was not any different
from regular ones which had a rate about 40 percent lower.
"We will stop the operation of the nonairconditioned buses if
they do not realistically function according to the initial idea
of being an express with a limited number of passengers," he
said.
The governor said the city administration policy remained the
same and that people should get adequate service based on the
money they spend.
The capital currently has three categories for public buses:
regular, nonairconditioned Patas and air-conditioned Patas.
They are run by state and privately-owned transportation
companies.
Currently, fare for regular buses is set at Rp 300 per
passenger, Rp 700 for the nonairconditioned Patas and Rp 2,300
for air-conditioned Patas.
The administration recently proposed to hike rates for regular
buses to Rp 500, nonairconditioned Patas to Rp 900, minibuses to
Rp 700, and air-conditioned Patas to Rp 2,500.
Based on the city administration's data for February this
year, the number of regular buses on the streets totaled 1,106,
nonairconditioned Patas, 1,812, and air-conditioned Patas, 1,095.
The public's complaints were mostly directed at the poor
attitude of drivers and conductors, who often spent several
minutes at one spot to wait for passengers.
Another noted fact was many bus conductors tried to load as
many passengers as they could, making the bus similar to packed
sardines in a can.
On the planned bus rate hike, the governor said his
administration had yet to make a final decision because there
were too many factors which should be considered.
When asked to comment on the fact that drivers themselves even
objected to the plan since it would not benefit them, the
governor said that drivers should not think only about their own
interests.
"They should also think about people in the transportation
business and the entire society. The business could collapse if
the rate is not increased," he said.
In the past, Sutiyoso said that if the rate was not increased
he was afraid that bus drivers would stage a strike and the
business would collapse due to skyrocketing prices of spare parts
amid the economic crisis.
Scores of drivers of Metromini minibuses, however, staged a
protest to city council on Monday, demanding that the
administration stop the plan.
They said the increase would only cause protests from
passengers while they would not be able to enjoy any benefits
from it because the rental fee of the vehicles would also be
hiked by the companies. (ind)