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fter a one-month delay, a new electronic payment system for Transjakarta buses will be launched at the end of May to replace the current manual ticketing system.

With the new system, passengers will need a JakCard — or busway card — to travel across the city on Transjakarta buses.

“Such cards will be available at busway stops and minimarkets,” Transjakarta Management Authority (BLU) chief Muhammad Akbar said at a discussion at the NAM Center in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.

According to Akbar, the application of the e-payment system will benefit busway passengers. “For example, they will not have to queue at ticket booths but simply swipe the card on a sensor machine at busway stops to enter the buses,” Akbar said.

Two types of cards will be on offer, namely a prepaid card for daily passengers that will have a maximum balance of Rp 1 million (US$108) and a one-way e-card that can be purchased at busway stops. “The price of a trip will be deducted from the balance of a prepaid card every time it is swiped,” Akbar said.

Corridor 6 of the Transjakarta busway system, serving the Dukuh Atas–Ragunan route, will be the first corridor to apply the e-payment system. “We have completed the installation of sensor machines at all busway stops on Corridor 6,” said Akbar

The BLU has chosen to implement the e-payment system along Corridor 6 because it serves fewer passengers than other corridors. “Every day, Corridor 6 serves around 30,000 commuters, as compared to Corridor 1, which serves around 70,000 people,” Akbar said.

If the e-payment system along Corridor 6 runs well, other corridors will follow suit by August, he said.

Several years ago, the BLU introduced an e-ticketing system on Corridors 1, 2 and 3. However, after a lack of funding for maintenance from the Jakarta administration, the system was replaced with a manual ticketing system in 2009.

For the planned e-payment system, the BLU is cooperating with Bank DKI under a 2011 agreement in which the latter will provide all equipment needed for the e-payment system and be responsible for its maintenance for 10 years.

Bank DKI, which will issue JakCards, plans to make it an integrated means for electronic payments for various modes of transportation, including commuter trains.

Bank DKI director Martono Soeprapto, who also attended Wednesday’s discussion, said that his bank would monitor the progress of the implementation of the electronic system on all Transjakarta corridors until the end of the year.

“If the implementation is successful, we will integrate the JakCard as an e-payment for the Jakarta commuter-line system in May next year,” Martono said. (riz)