The Jakarta Transportation Council (DTKJ) ended its two-year term Thursday, but many have lamented that there is still much more work to be done.
Handayani, who is pursuing her masters degree at the University of Indonesia and also works on accessibility issues, said the council had fallen short of addressing accessibility issues for the disabled in the city's public transport system.
"I haven't seen any recommendations in favor of disabled residents," she said.
Voicing similar concerns, transportation observer Darmaningtyas pointed to the council's failure to encourage improvements to the Transjakarta busway service.
"Take for example the case of helping tackle gridlocked busway lanes, the council should have given strong recommendations to the governor and the transportation agency on how to clear the lanes," Darmaningtyas said.
"They could have gauged public opinion through the mass media on how the administration should improve public transport," said the director of the Institute of Transportation Study (Instran).
He said the worsening service of the Transjakarta buses was a result of heavily congested lanes.
"Some time ago, I took a Transjakarta bus from the Jl. Slamet Riyadi bus shelter to the nearest shelter on Jl. Matraman Raya and it took 45 minutes as the street was congested. That's too long," he said.
The Slamet Riyadi and Matraman Raya bus shelters are only 300 meters apart.
In response to those complaints, the council's chairman, Edie Toet Hendratno, said the two-year term was too short to work wonders.
Edie claimed they had once invited members from the Jakarta branch of the Blind People's Association (Pertuni) to discuss disability and public transport issues.
"The idea to help them was raised in our discussion. We hope there will be a member of Pertuni who sits as a member in the DTKJ so their voice will be heard," he said.
"We also recommend the Transjakarta busway fare not be increased because the service quality is still low," he said.
Edie also said the city needed to have a mass public transport system that could integrate with Transjakarta buses and other public transport.
"Jakarta cannot rely on the Transjakarta buses as the backbone of the public transport," he said.
