T

he Jakarta Transportation Agency is planning to extend the routes of the Transjakarta bus rapid transit feeder system, after finding that feeder buses catered to less passengers than expected.

Agency chief Udar Pristono said that during an evaluation, the office found that the feeder system had only been used by a small number of passengers since it was launched in late December last year.

“The evaluation result shows that the current routes do not perfectly cater for those who need to use feeder buses to access the Transjakarta network,” Udar said.

Official data showed that only around 500 people used the feeder system every day, far below the agency expectation of 5,250 per day.

The agency chief said that the administration would immediately extend the routes to widen the service area and serve more passengers.

There are currently three Transjakarta feeder routes. Route 1 covers Puri Indah Hospital, the West Jakarta Municipal Office, Pasar Puri, Mutiara Kedoya, Kedoya Raya, Kembangan and Pesanggrahan. It connects to Transjakarta Corridor 3 (Kalideres–Harmoni) and Corridor 8 (Lebak Bulus–Harmoni).

Route 2 in Central Jakarta covers Jatibaru, Abdul Muis, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Fachruddin. It connects with Transjakarta Corridor 1 (Blok M–Kota) and Corridor 2 (Pulo Gadung–Harmoni).

Route 3 covers the Jakarta Stock Exchange, the Senayan sports complex, Plaza Senayan and the Senayan Trade Center. The three routes are served by 15 buses: six buses on Route 1, four on Route 2 and five on Route 3.

Udar said that the agency was considering extending Route 2 to also cover Gambir train station, Tugu Tani area and Jl. Kebon Sirih at one end and Tanah Abang market and the train station at the other.

Separately on Friday, David Chyn, chairman of Suara Transjakarta user community, said that the current feeder network was yet to optimally cater for demand. “The existing routes, for example, serve only a small number of residential areas.”