Transit firms drag feet on night fleets
Transit firms drag feet on night fleets
JAKARTA (JP): The Land Transportation and Traffic Control
Agency (DLLAJ) said that most transportation companies operating
wide-bodied buses are reluctant to operate their fleets at night
because it is not economically feasible.
The agency's head, J.P Sepang, said that the transit firms
have complained of small numbers of passengers at night. They say
people prefer using taxis compared to buses because they feel
insecure on buses.
"From an evaluation done on the existing night transportation,
there is an indication that people prefer to use taxis rather
than buses because they feel safer and it is quicker to get home
by cab," Sepang told reporters at the City Council building
yesterday.
He explained on Thursday that many people feel unsafe taking
buses at night because of bad experiences they had in the past.
Last month a woman, who was waiting for a private company bus
to leave Cililitan, East Jakarta, was dragged away by several
extortionists who then raped her.
DLLAJ has asked transportation companies operating wide-bodied
buses to run at least 30 percent of their fleets at night in
order to meet the demand for transit services from the public.
In order to create a feeling of security among passengers, the
City Police have deployed police officers to maintain order on
transit vehicles at night.
"Unfortunately the police cannot be around all of the time,"
Sepang said.
Some of the bus companies operating wide-bodied buses have
used the fact that the number of passengers is relatively small
at night as a reason not to operate their fleets.
"The average number of passengers in one bus at night is only
four," he added.
But Sepang said that Mayasari Bhakti, a major private
companies operating buses in the city, operates anyway because it
does not want night transportation dominated by one company.
In the past the public demand for night transportation was met
by 12-seat minivans, such as the authorized Koperasi Wahana
Kaplika minivans and other unauthorized minivans plying lucrative
routes linking Jakarta and suburban areas, such as Depok, Bekasi
and Tangerang. (yns/has)