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ernawati, a 56-year-old woman, looked enthusiastic when telling her story of trying a lower-floor bus in its assembly factory in Cakung, East Jakarta, during a discussion on transportation on Wednesday.

“The bus was comfortable for me to get on and off of,” she said.

During the visit, she also gave suggestions on how the bus could be more accommodating for the disabled.

”It should have an information system that can be read and heard,” she said, adding that it would be useful for passengers who are hearing or visually impaired.

Hernawati, who has depended on her wheelchair since childhood, said traveling in Jakarta was a headache. She was forced to take taxis with high fares everywhere she went.

“I hope the new buses will ease travel,” she said.

Hernawati and other disabled folk’s suggestions are becoming integrated in plans for city-owned bus operator PT Transportasi Jakarta (Transjakarta), which currently prepares for transportation routes using an international standard system that includes disabled-friendly facilities.

Transjakarta operational director Daud Joseph said the pilot project would serve areas around Central Jakarta.

“The first route covers Suropati Park, Cikini Station, Gambir Station, Jl. Pecenongan, Jl. Merdeka Barat and Jl. MH Thamrin,” he said, adding that the route would be dubbed Sutan Juhi (Suropati, Tugu Tani, Juanda and Hotel Indonesia traffic circle).

Daud said the choice of the 22-station route was because the area already had good sidewalk facilities, while not being covered by regular bus routes.

“We estimate that around 1,000 passengers will use the route,” he said.

Daud said the route would be different from the Transjakarta route. “As the bus is lower-floor, the
bus stop would be on the sidewalk,” he said.

Daud said his company would deploy seven buses for the first batch with the capacity of 60 passengers each.

“The bus will be equipped with wheelchair ramps, as well as spaces for them to easily enter and exit the bus,” he said, adding that the information system of the bus would also accommodate the hearing and visually impaired.

He said the company would apply electronic tickets with the price of Rp 3,500 (26 US cents) just like Transjakarta’s ticket fare.

The route, unfortunately, is not fully integrated with Transjakarta, similar to other feeder buses.

“We can, however, integrate the ticket. So those who take the route do not have to pay for the Transjakarta bus again,” he said.

Daud said that before launching in October, his company would finish its preparations, such as the bus assembly process or repairing bus stops and sidewalks to ensure routes would be handicap-accessible.

“We will order 150 buses, all the same standard, while considering other routes,” he said.

Trian Airlangga, the coordinator of Coalition for Transportation Accessibility (KUAT), said he appreciated the efforts of Transjakarta and other stakeholders to accommodate disabled people.

He said, however, that he hoped the project would not be executed without precise calculation. “Do not just presume. It will be useless if the facilities do not fully accommodate us,” he said.

“We need to discuss and allocate the budget again. It is not effective at all,” he said.

Yayat Supriatna, the urban expert at Trisakti University, said the pilot project would become a good example on examining whether or not the system was truly applicable or not.

“The route is serving some spots that are not accommodated by public transportation. So, it will be useful,” he said.

Yayat said if the program was successful, it could be replicated into other systems.