T

he central government should take part in addressing Jakarta and its surrounding areas' transportation problems as it is in the nation's interest, a transportation expert says.

Bambang Susantono, chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society, said the central government should share the burden of financing an integrated transportation system, including linking commuter trains and Transjakarta buses, with the local authority.

"Providing better public transportation in Jakarta, as a center of commerce, and its surrounding areas, is also the responsibility of the central government," he said on Thursday on the sidelines of his book launch on transportation in Jakarta.

He said the central government should also take part in transportation projects in other cities like Surabaya.

Bambang said the 14.5-kilometer Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, scheduled to be operational by 2012, was a good example of central government and local administration cooperation.

Bambang said that to avoid gridlocks, Jakarta and its surrounding areas needed to revitalize public transportation modes. In the short term, the Transjakarta busway needed to be vamped up and made as attractive as possible as a mode of public transportation.

The government should improve commuter trains that serve people from Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi who commute to the capital, as well as the trains serving the peripheral areas of the city, while constructing the MRT, he added.

"And the most important thing is to merge the ticketing system of the trains and the busway by next year."

The city administration had announced in 2008 they were to invest in state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api (KA) and merge the ticketing of the busway system and KA's Greater Jakarta division, which includes Bekasi, Bogor, Depok and Tangerang. The administration plans to merge the ticketing of all public transport in the future.