T

he Jakarta administration is facing an uphill struggle to fully implement its public transportation integration program One Card One Trip (Ok Otrip), as the trial is beset with problems resulting from disagreements between the administration and angkot (public minivan) operators over the proposed cooperation scheme.

While setting a target of 11 angkot operators to take part in the program, the city administration has only succeeded in cooperating with two operators, Koperasi Wahana Kalpika (KWK) and Budi Luhur, since the trial began on Jan. 15.

The cooperation has not been without its challenges, as both operators have expressed dissatisfaction over the ongoing partnership.

KWK acting chairman Abdul Ghofur said PT Transjakarta had yet to pay Rp 273 million (US$19,110) in operating costs to the cooperative, even though Transjakarta had committed to making the payment on the first day of the month.

The situation is quite troublesome because the cooperative has to cover daily operating costs for the 48 angkot that are taking part in the trial and pay the drivers’ salaries in accordance with the provincial minimum wage (UMP) of Rp 3.6 million as required by the administration.

Abdul said the payment had been delayed because there was no partnership agreement between KWK and Transjakarta before starting the cooperation.

“Previously, we had only signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). We just signed the partnership agreement for the trial today,” Abdul said on Monday.

As the cooperative had now signed the agreement, Abdul said he hoped to receive the payment as soon as possible.

Separately, the head of Budi Luhur cooperative Saud Hutabarat complained that Transjakarta had failed to pay the operating cost fee on time.

“Transjakarta should have paid the operator on Feb. 1, but it made the payment of Rp 130 million on Feb. 12,” Saud said.

Head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency’s land transportation unit, Masdes Arroufi, said on Monday that the delay had occurred because of the required verification process.

The city administration needed to verify the trips made by the angkot before disbursing the money, he said.

“The operators also had not submitted some administrative documents, which contributed to the late payment,” he said.

Meanwhile, the operators have said they hoped the city administration would increase the incentives, as the current per kilometer rate of Rp 3,459 hardly benefited them.

The city administration previously challenged the angkot to travel a distance of 190 kilometers, so they would receive an income of around Rp 600,000 per day.

However, 15 angkot owned by Budi Luhur, serving the route from Kampung Melayu to Duren Sawit in East Jakarta, which participated in the trial, could only travel a distance of 180 kilometers per day due to traffic congestion, Daud said.

“The income we get from Ok Otrip doesn’t cover our operating costs. The program has benefited the drivers, but not the operators,” Daud said.

The income of Rp 600,000 per day was also not enough because the operators did not only have to bear the operating costs and drivers’ salaries, but also the purchase of the new vehicles, he added.

The operators had proposed a per kilometer rate of Rp 3,800 so the operators could cover all of their costs, Daud said.

Petrus Tukimin, the head of Kolamas Jaya, which has 15 angkot in Tanah Abang, said he would not join the Ok Otrip program unless the city administration gave more incentives to operators.

“We’re still communicating with the city administration about the tariff we proposed,” he added.

Daud added that he had suggested the city administration give subsidies for residents to purchase Ok Otrip cards.

According to Transjakarta, 8,078 Ok Otrip cards had been sold as of Jan. 18, Daud said 70 percent of Budi Luhur angkot passengers did not own the cards as the angkot service was free during the trial.

“We’re worried that not many passengers will use the Ok Otrip service when it is implemented,” he said.

Meanwhile, two additional Ok Otrip routes, the Lebak Bulus-Pondok Labu and Grogol-Angke routes, started operating on Monday, city-owned bus operator
PT Transjakarta has announced, bringing the total number of OK Otrip public transportation routes to five.

Previously, Transjakarta operated three OK Otrip routes, the Kampung Melayu-Duren Sawit, Semper-Rorotan and Kampung Rambutan-Pondok Gede routes.