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OK Otrip program road to nowhere, say passengers
One fare one trip: A passenger taps his card on a ticket machine inside a public minivan during an OK Otrip transportation program trial at Kampung Melayu Terminal, East Jakarta, on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">One fare one trip: A passenger taps his card on a ticket machine inside a public minivan during an OK Otrip transportation program trial at Kampung Melayu Terminal, East Jakarta, on Monday. The program, initiated by the city administration, applies a single fare for all means of public transportation in the city. A passenger only has to pay Rp 3,500 )28 US cents) for a single trip covering several modes of transportation within a maximum 3-hour period.(JP/Seto Wardhana)
The single public transportation fare program, which has been introduced by the Jakarta administration, has been met with reluctance by passengers who have found it impractical for their daily trips.
On Monday, the city inaugurated the program, One Card One Trip (OK OTrip), for the Kampung Melayu-Duren Sawit route in East Jakarta, one of four routes that are set to be part of the program.
Kirman, a Kebon Nanas resident in East Jakarta, canceled his plans to take a public minivan from Kampung Melayu bus station to a relative’s house in Duren Sawit after learning that he had to buy the OK OTrip card.
The 60-year-old said he knew about the program and refused to buy the card because it cost too much. Each OK OTrip card is sold for Rp 40,000 (US$3.20).
“I already have e-money to pay toll fees. Can I use it?” he asked.
The program, however, does not allow for other types of e-money to be used as payment.
Passengers have to use specific OK OTrip cards because the duration of their trip will be taken into account.
With the program, passengers only have to pay Rp 5,000 from their starting point to their last destination as long as they take Transjakarta buses and public minivans that have been integrated into the Transjakarta system. The Rp 5,000 fare will be valid within a three-hour trip.
Another two passengers, who wanted to travel to Duren Sawit Hospital, also chose to take other modes of transportation after learning that they had to pay with a specific card to take a public minivan.
Transjakarta, the city-owned bus operator, claimed that more than 2,000 OK OTrip cards had been sold to the public since the soft launch of the program on Dec. 22.
However, none of the passengers who intended to take public minivans in Kampung Melayu- Duren Sawit had known about the card and the program.
Transjakarta spokesperson Wibowo said the company had intensified disseminating the information about the program through social media.
“We also ask fellow journalists to inform the public about the new program,” Wibowo said, adding that the company would deploy one agent in every integrated public minivan starting on Monday to disseminate information about the program to passengers.
The program’s trial is set to run for three months until April on four routes spread across the city.
The other three routes will cover Jelambar in West Jakarta, Warakas in North Jakarta and Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta.
About 100 integrated public minivans will be operated during the trial.
Thousands of existing public minivans in the city will be integrated with Transjakarta’s system in the end.
The Jakarta Transportation Agency wants the whole process to be integrated by 2020.
Earlier, residents said they were not interested in participating in the program, adding that it involved few routes that do not reach its destination.
One problem often cited by passengers is congestion in the city. They also doubted that they could reach their destination within three hours.
