TransJakarta to manage island ferries
TransJakarta to manage island ferries
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
The TransJakarta Busway management is likely to be granted the
authority to manage two commuter ferries recently procured by the
city administration, an official said over the weekend.
City Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendy Sidabutar said
in future, TransJakarta would manage all transportation in the
capital.
However, his statement exceeds Gubernatorial Decree No.
110/2003 on the busway, which stipulates that the TransJakarta
Busway management is responsible for operating only the busway.
Rustam said the policy to allow the busway operator to manage
the two TransJakarta Lumba-lumba, which means dolphin, did not
violate any regulations.
The transportation agency recently purchased two boats to
replace the Betok 1 and Betok 2, which will stop operations soon.
It argued that the new boats would encourage tourism to Kepulauan
Seribu regency, commonly called the Thousand Islands, and help
revive the local industry.
The Lumba-lumba will serve passengers from Ancol Marina, North
Jakarta, to the Thousand Islands, carrying up to 50 passengers
twice a day.
Rustam did not mention the cost nor the specifications of the
boats.
TransJakarta Busway head Irzal Z. Djamal said the management
would be ready for the Lumba-lumba.
"However, we are still awaiting a gubernatorial decree on
management of the two boats," he said.
TransJakarta oversees the operation of 56 busway buses plying
the initial Blok M-Kota corridor. The management has continued to
be criticized since its inception, particularly for its failure
to provide feeder services to connect to the busway corridor,
although it has been operating for six months already.
The management is currently building the second corridor from
Pulogadung, East Jakarta, to Medan Merdeka Square, Central
Jakarta, and the third from Medan Merdeka Square to Kalideres,
West Jakarta.
Irzal said the TransJakarta Lumba-lumba would start operations
this month, but so far no transportation linking the Marina and
Kota has been laid out.
"After several months of operation, we will calculate data on
the number of passengers using the service to provide feeder
transportation and a ticketing system to integrate it with the
busway," he said.
He invited interested companies to participate in an open
tender for the provision of feeder buses for the Lumba-lumba
ferry service.
"Interested companies can submit their proposals to the
management. The requirement is that they can provide comfortable
feeder buses equipped with air conditioners," he said.
The transportation agency is also preparing a special pier for
the Lumba-lumba service in Angke, North Jakarta.