Yellow school buses may hit the roads again

Tue, 10/14/2008 10:18 AM  |  City

After being parked in the bus pool for the last 10 months, Jakarta's yellow school buses may soon hit the roads again following the transportation agency's decision to hold tender for its management.

M. Tauchid Tjakra Amidjaja, the transportation agency head, said the tender would be held on Oct. 15.

"If the tender succeeds in getting us new management, we will sign a work contract in mid November and the winner will operate the school buses until June 2009. But if it fails, we will hold another tender in the early months of 2009," he said.

Tauchid explained his agency had held a tender in July, but the tender failed to reveal a winner because the bidding companies had not presented complete paperwork nor fulfilled technical requirements.

Launched in July 2007, the school buses were meant to serve junior and senior high school students. Less than six months after it was launched, the city administration decided to shut down the free service, saying their action was due to tardy fund disbursements.

Lack of financing led the administration not to renew its contract with the bus operator when its term ended in December 2007, leaving all 34 buses in the garage. As a result, some parts of the buses have become damaged and rusty.

Tauchid said his agency would redesign the project as a multiyear contract to provide better bus service continuity.

He said the multiyear contract would allow the city to continue to fund operations even in the event of late disbursements.

Disbursements against the city budget have been late for the last few years. This year's funds were disbursed in April.

He said his agency had provided details about the buses' conditions in the tender announcement. Therefore, he added, the tender winner would be aware they would need to repair the vehicles.

He said the agency would offer to pay the operator Rp 4,700 (48 US cents) per kilometer traveled.

The administration has allocated around Rp 5 billion (US$500,000) to procure and run 34 air-conditioned school buses, each with a capacity of 20 to 40 students.

The school buses originally deployed along four routes: Kemayoran-Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta, Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta-Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta, TMII-Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta and Pasar Minggu-Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta.

Each route ran five or six buses, which served passengers from 5:30 to 7 in the morning, from 11 to 1 at midday and from 3 to 6 in the afternoon. -- JP/Tifa Asrianti

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