With the first day of the odd-even policy trial run affecting his regular tollgate, Cibubur 2 on Jagorawi toll road, office worker Yono Cahyono, 37, had to leave his car at home and take public transportation.

He left his house at 4:30 a.m. for the nearest bus stop to wait for a Tanah Abang-bound bus to a transit point before continuing the trip to his office in Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.

After waiting for nearly 30 minutes, he realized that the bus was not operating that day. Apparently, bus drivers had staged a protest against the government’s plan to provide a premium service for commuters affected by the odd-even policy.

Yono decided to drive anyway, and he managed to enter the tollgate before the odd-even hour. The policy is effective from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays.

The Greater Jakarta Transportation Body’s (BPTJ) plan is to ease congestion on the toll road that connects Jakarta and areas like Sentul and Cibubur. The policy aims to reduce the number of cars entering the capital by providing premium bus services.

But the trial run was hampered by resistance from bus drivers who feared that the agency’s plan would affect their income.

The protesters, while launching the strike, also blocked about 60 Transjabodetabek premium buses, which were provided to cater to the affected motorists.

The limited options on the day forced people to look to other means of transportation, including the Jakarta-owned Transjakarta bus service, which saw a significant rise in the number of passengers using its services. Some of them reportedly had to wait longer due to overcapacity. The line of passengers flowed into the streets.

The BPTJ’s spokesperson, Budi Rahardjo, said yesterday’s incident had been caused due to a misunderstanding, because the premium bus services provided were point-to-point public transportation, which would depart from residential houses to their final destinations in Jakarta without picking up passengers along the way.

Budi met with the protesting drivers and promised them the premium buses would not affect their regular passengers. “The premium services are aimed at middle- to upper-class residents,” he said. Tuesday would see a smoother trial run, Budi added.

The premium bus services will depart from five gated housing communities — Citra Grand, Legenda Wisata, Metland Transyogi, Cibubur Country and Cibubur Residence — and will run in a dedicated lane on the toll road.

“Why did the authorities fail to consider such a small, yet important detail? With good communication, this situation could have been avoided,” Yono said.

On average, 7,799 cars enter the Cibubur 2 tollgate daily during the morning peak hour, which is higher than the other 11 tollgates on the Jagorawi toll road. Over 40,000 cars enter the 12 tollgates during the morning peak, making cars move at a mere 26.88 kilometers per hour.

The policy is expected to increase the speed of cars to 36.84 kmph.

It follows a similar regulation applied last month on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, which connects Jakarta and industrial areas in West Java.

A similar trial run was also implemented at two Tangerang-Jakarta tollgates, namely Kunciran 2 and Tangerang 2 on Monday.

BPTJ head Bambang Prihartono said the policies were necessary to force workers to use public transportation when commuting to Jakarta, which would host the Asian Games in August and September.

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