Tangerang to get new bus terminal to deal with Idul Fitri exodus
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
In a bid to be prepared for the annual Idul Fitri travel season, Tangerang municipality administration will start operating its new integrated bus terminal in Poris Plawad subdistrict, Cipondoh, Tangerang, in early November.
"We are still waiting for an operational permit issued by the Directorate General of Land Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation," Jamanat Purba, head of the municipality land transportation agency, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
The seven-hectare terminal, located across from Batu Ceper railway station, will be able to accommodate around 200 intercity buses with routes to 250 destination cities in Java and Sumatra.
The administration estimates that the number of Idul Fitri travelers this year will reach around 500,000 passengers from the new terminal and the Cimone bus terminal on Jl. Merdeka in the city. The figure is higher than last year's approximately 400,000 passengers who went back and forth between Greater Jakarta and their home villages.
The new terminal will also accommodate 120 city buses and 150 public minivans.
"The integrated bus terminal will serve as the center for public transportation services in the whole of Tangerang municipality to replace the Cikokol bus terminal which was closed last year due to the construction of Cikokol flyover. This terminal will help alleviate the burden on Cimone bus terminal," he said.
The terminal construction project officer, Hadi Baradin, said that the construction began in April 2001 and finished in March 2003. The project itself had been planned since 1999.
The Rp 23.8 billion (US$2.80 million) project was financed by the administration, which put in Rp 10.70 billion and the Asian Development Bank, which contributed Rp 13.10 billion.
"To access the terminal, we have also constructed a 2.5- kilometer, four-lane road, connecting the terminal and Jl. Jend. Sudirman," he said, adding that another 1.5-kilometer access road from the terminal to Jl. Maulana Hasanudin in Rawa Buaya, West Jakarta, was under construction.
The terminal can also be accessed from Jl. Daan Mogot, Jl. K.H. Hasyim Ashari, Jl. Panglima Polim, Jl K.H. Agus Salim and Jl. Kolektor.
Train commuters plying Jakarta and Tangerang can easily find public transportation from the terminal to their respective destinations. The transportation agency will rearrange the public transportation routes to synchronize with the terminal.