T

he Jakarta administration is set to release the tender for the renovation of 300 existing bus stops as part of the public transportation revitalization program.

Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board (BPKAD) head Heru Budi Hartono said that the BPKAD would be responsible for conducting the bidding.

'€œWe have opened the registration for private companies to participate in the bidding. This will be an investment bidding. Winners will later have the rights to utilize and maintain the bus stops,'€ Heru told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.

He went on to say that the bidding was in accordance with Government Regulation No. 27/2014 on the management of state or regional assets. The regulation states that asset management with private companies may be in the form of rent, joint utilization, lease and infrastructure cooperation.

Heru said that the city administration would implement joint utilization of its bus stops. Once the BPKAD determines the winners, a cooperation contract will be signed by the city administration and the private companies.

'€œIn the contract, the private company will be responsible for not only revitalizing but also maintaining the bus stops during the contract period. The contract period may be up to 30 years,'€ he said, adding that the length of contract period would be discussed as part of the negotiations.

The private companies may seek profit by installing space for advertisements on the bus stops. He said that 60 percent of advertising space in the bus stops may be utilized by the private companies, while the remaining 40 percent will be reserved for the city administration'€™s public service announcements.

'€œFor the first phase of the bidding we will be offering 300 bus stops. If this proves to be successful, we will bid another 700 next year,'€ Heru said.

Further, Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said that cooperating with private companies in renovating bus stops was beneficial for the city administration as the city administration would not need to spend money on maintenance.

'€œIt'€™s beneficial for us because it will save us a lot of money. They will be obliged to clean the bus stops twice a day,'€ Ahok told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday, adding that the city administration was seeking to implement the same system for all 1,300 of its bus stops.

Separately, newly-inaugurated Transportation Agency head Andri Yansyah said that the renovation of the bus stops was part of the city'€™s public transportation revitalization program.

The city is home to a variety of public transportation, from Mikrolet and KWK minivans to Kopaja and Metromini minibuses, among many others. Currently, most types of public transportation in Jakarta are owned privately by hundreds of individuals and small firms who hire drivers.

The drivers are required to pay a setoran (set fee) to the operators each day and may take home the money they make after the minimum amount is fulfilled. As a result, many drivers tend to wait for passengers and drive recklessly, causing traffic congestion and frequent accidents.

The city'€™s public transportation revitalization program aims to erase the setoran system by having Transjakarta pay bus owners per kilometer traveled. Further, buses and minivans may only pick up and drop off passengers at bus stops.

'€œIn our public transportation revitalization programs, drivers may only pick up and drop off passengers at bus stops. Therefore, renovating bus stops is an important part of our program,'€ Andri said.