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)