T

he Jakarta administration has recorded more fatalities in accidents involving Transjakarta buses this year compared to last year, although there have been fewer accidents.

The Transjakarta management body (BLU) recorded 16 fatalities in accidents between January and October this year, compared to the same period last year, which saw 13.

The BLU recorded 399 accidents involving Transjakarta buses during the period last year.

That number dropped to 101 accidents this year.

Eighteen people were severely injured and 67 others suffered minor injuries.

BLU chief Muhammad Akbar said on Friday that the accidents were mostly caused by road users entering the exclusive Transjakarta lane.

“Transjakarta drivers have to be more careful because many motorist still illegally enter the lanes despite the danger,” Akbar told reporters at City Hall.

Earlier this week, a woman was killed and her husband was severely injured after being hit by a bus on Transjakarta Corridor 3 Kalideres-Harmoni in Pesing, West Jakarta.

The couple rode their motorcycle into the lane, failing to notice a bus heading their way.

Earlier this month, a teenager and a toddler were killed in two separate accidents on Transjakarta lanes.

A 17-year-old high school student died after being run over by a Transjakarta bus on Jl. Jatinegara Barat in East Jakarta. A 5-year-old boy was crossing the busway lane with his father near the Harco electronic store in Glodok, West Jakarta, when a northbound bus hit him.

The city is planning to build taller barriers to prevent private vehicles from entering Transjakarta’s dedicated lanes.

The barriers would be 50 centimeters tall. The current concrete separators are 15 centimeters tall.

Jakarta Transportation Agency chief Udar Pristono said on Thursday that the taller barriers would be installed along lanes starting with Corridor 3 next year.

The administration plans to allocate around Rp 160 billion (US$18.24 million) to install the barriers along Transjakarta’s 10 busway routes over the next two years.

Next year, the city plans to spend Rp 85 billion (US$9.69 million) to build several moveable concrete barriers.

The new barriers were one of several options the city considered to keep motorists off of the busway’s dedicated lanes.

The city formed the 3,000-personnel task force in collaboration with the Jakarta Police, the Indonesian Military and the City Transportation Agency late last year in an attempt to curb the worsening traffic situation.

Among the task force’s tasks is keeping private vehicles off of the Transjakarta lanes.

— JP/Andreas D. Arditya