The Jakarta Transportation Agency will on Wednesday launch a new feeder-bus route to support the Transjakarta busway between Bekasi and the Pulo Gadung terminal in East Jakarta.

Jakarta Transportation Agency chief Udar Pristono said that the route will start at the Pulo Gadung bus terminal and pass through Jl. Raya Bekasi, the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road and Jl. Cut Mutia before ending at the Bekasi terminal.

The route will use bus stops in front of the Social Ministry office and the Bekasi Trade Center, which are both on Jl. Muladi Joyomartono, and in front of the Bank Mandiri office and the Hiba Utama bus depot on Jl. Raya Bekasi, Udar said during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday

Each passenger will have to pay a fare of Rp 9,500 (US$1.05), comprising Rp 6,000 for the feeder bus and Rp 3,500 for the Transjakarta bus.

The bus is a high-deck-type with a capacity of 85 passengers, like a Transjakarta bus.

But unlike its Transjakarta counterpart, the feeder bus will be powered by diesel fuel, not compressed natural gas (CNG).

“Fifteen buses will serve the route, with a total capacity of 17,340 passengers per day,” Udar said.

He said that he hoped the feeder buses would see commuters from Bekasi who usually used cars or motorcycles to get to Jakarta be converted into using public transportation.

“It cannot absorb the passengers as targeted if commuters still use cars and motorcycles instead of taking public transportation,” he said.

Udar gave the example of the feeder-bus route that stops in front of City Hall, which only has seen around 100 passengers a day utilize the service.

“We have provided the facility but people do not want to use it,” he said.

The agency also demanded that the Bekasi administration provide adequate facilities for passengers, such as parking lots and restaurants, to support the region’s growing bus system.

Based on research from the Greater Jakarta Urban Transportation Policy Integration Project (JUTPI), the number of people commuting from Bekasi to Jakarta grew more than 60 percent in eight years.

There were 423,000 people commuting daily from Bekasi to Jakarta in 2010, compared to 262,000 in 2002.

From the 423,000 Bekasi-Jakarta commuters, 51.1 percent used motorcycles and 29.1 percent drove their cars.

Just 16.3 percent of commuters used bus services and 3.1 percent, or 13,113 passengers, traveled by train each day.

Anisa Titisari, 23, a Bekasi resident who frequently goes to Jakarta to meet with friends, said that she was pleased with the administration’s plan.

“It would be a lot easier to get to Jakarta. I usually have to change several public transportation services to reach Jakarta,” she told The Jakarta Post. However, she hoped that the buses would journey closer to her house in Harapan Indah because it costs her Rp 5,000 to travel to the Bekasi bus terminal.

Several feeder-bus systems have been created by various private real-estate agencies operating in Jakarta’s outskirts, such as in Tangerang and Cikarang.

These private services have been developed to help residents and clients get to Transjakarta bus stops or terminals.

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