TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pontianak starts bus rapid transit trial period
Change Size
School bus illustration. (Shutterstock/Olga Ermakova)
P
ontianak, the capital city of West Kalimantan province, has commenced a trial run for its bus rapid transit (BRT), operating five buses to serve the city’s students.
Each of the 30-seat buses is equipped with air conditioners and a sound system. The buses will offer free Wi-Fi in the future.
Operating under the Trans Pontianak Khatulistiwa, the BRT service is managed by the local transportation agency.
Agency head Utin Srilena Candramidi said the trial period would run up to three weeks and the five buses were designated to serve students of two junior high schools: SMP 10 and Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri 2. The buses operate from 5 a.m. until 12 p.m.
“The bus service is free during this trial period,” she said. “The public could use the service after it completes its task of transporting the students,” she said.
(Read also: Jakartans struggle to get from A to B amid transport strike)
The agency had requested six more buses from the Transportation Ministry in Jakarta. The Pontianak administration has renovated seven bus stops to provide a better experience for passengers. Students living far away from the bus stops are allowed to decide their pick-up and drop-off points.
The introduction of the BRT service is warmly welcomed by parents, particularly because junior high school students are prohibited from riding motorbikes to school. The prohibition was reaffirmed September last year by the local police in an effort to curb traffic accidents.
