A company providing automatic gates for the city's Transjakarta bus lanes, plans to add two more gates at Galur and Kramat shelters in Central Jakarta early February.
"The trial period for the gate at Kwitang shelter is over and we're now planning to add more gates using stronger materials and better equipment," said Mario Panekenan, operational manager of the company, PT Limo, on Friday.
He said that if the barriers were made from stronger materials, vehicles insisting on passing would be dented.
Mario said the barrier now used a compressor system to save electricity.
"It only takes about 900 watts during the day, and 1,300 watt *because of neon lighting* at night," he said.
The first prototype barrier used 3,300 watts of electricity and was more prone to damage, he said.
In October last year, PT Limo and the city's transportation agency installed a prototype gate at Kwitang shelter, Central Jakarta, to stop private vehicles from using the busway lane.
The barrier has a sensor to indicate when a Transjakarta bus approaches, with the gate opening to allow for the bus. The gate takes only three seconds to open and close.
Many drivers have ignored the barrier, however, damaging the construction.
"In the long run, the company will add as many as 15 barriers along the busway lanes that have recorded the highest number of trespassing vehicles," Mario said, adding that the company was still waiting for confirmation from the transportation agency.
The agency chose to install the gate after private vehicles repeatedly used the exclusive busway lanes, causing congestion along Transjakarta corridors.
Transjakarta deployed patrol officers to prevent vehicles from entering, but the officers said they became subject to harassment from scofflaw drivers. An officer, Angga, said many government officials also broke the regulation.
During the trial in October, the police netted dozens of trespassers at Kwitang shelter. (fmb)
