Taufik Kiemas praises Busway, gives advises

Taufik Kiemas praises Busway, gives advises

Damar Harsanto and Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Legislator Taufik Kiemas of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P) and his entourage took a return trip on the
Busway from the National Monument (Monas) to Blok M on Friday.

Taufik, husband of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, praised
the busway as "a fine example of taxpayers' money well-spent on
public facilities" but had some suggestions for Governor
Sutiyoso.

"I hope the governor will add more buses and elevators at
certain bus shelters, which only have stairs to enable people
with disabilities to access the busway buses," he said, glancing
at Sutiyoso standing besides him.

The governor quickly responded saying he had told Deputy
Governor Fauzi Bowo to speed up work on the busway, with a three-
month deadline.

"The ideal number of buses is 140. I have told Fauzi to speed
up the bus buy-up and the work on shelters, especially the
construction of canopies for them," he told reporters.

There are a total of 56 buses but some of them are out of
service because they are damaged.

Of the 21 shelters along the 12.9-kilometer busway corridor
from Blok M to Kota, West Jakarta, only two have canopies -- on
the median strip in front of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building
and the Sarinah shopping center.

Taufik made his trip on the busway after attending Megawati's
birthday party at the Jababeka industrial estate in Cikarang,
Bekasi regency, which was attended by over 5,000 people. Among
his entourage was Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul
Padmanagara and the Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Agustadi
Sasongko Purnomo.

Sutiyoso said the Busway ticketing system would be fully
operational by Feb. 1. The city would charge a lower fare of Rp
1,500 (18 U.S. cents), from the regular Rp 2,500 ticket, for
people traveling between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m, he said. The Busway is
open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

"The lower price is proposed for the lower-income bracket and
students so that they are not burdened by higher bus fares,"
Sutiyoso said.

TransJakarta Busway head Irzal Z. Djamal said management would
directly appoint the company to run the ticketing system, rather
than go through a tender process. The company would be named on
Monday, he said.

"We'll simply choose one of four companies who have already
submitted their proposals to us," he said. They are PT Mitra
Usaha Harapan, PT Prawedi Cipta Karsa Informatika, PT Iloni
Indonesia and PT Lestari Abadi.

Irzal said his company planned to expand the busway corridor
from Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta to the Hotel
Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta, passing through Jl.
Salemba.

"We consider this route our next corridor because there are
lots of passengers commuting through the route every day," he
said.

However, the administration still had financial hurdles to
overcome before it could realize this plan, he said. The Busway
is eventually expected to have a total of 14 corridors throughout
the city.