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ublic transportation operators in Jakarta are looking to generate more revenue from non-ticket sales in a bid to reduce their dependency on government subsidies to cover their operational costs.

The MRT system, which is projected to begin commercial operation in March next year, has set a target that its non-core business will contribute up to 13 percent of total income.

One feasible source of revenue is the auctioning its station-naming rights. Sudirman Baru station in Central Jakarta, which serves the airport train route, has been rebranded as BNI City, in reference to state-owned lender BNI, which provided loans for the station’s construction.

“We have prepared the auction of six of 13 stations we will operate,” PT MRT secretary Tubagus Hikmatullah said on Wednesday, without naming the six stations in question.

The MRT has the authority to manage the stations, including conducting naming-right auctions, as mandated by an agreement between the state-run company and the Jakarta administration, he said.

To avoid confusion among passengers, Tubagus said the original names of the stations, which are based on their locations, would be kept and the companies’ names would be added at the end of the original name. The naming rights would only last for 10 years.

“We will soon announce the procedure of the bidding process for the naming rights through an e-auction,” he said.

The first phase of the MRT construction, from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, has reached 93.5 percent completion and will begin trial runs in December.

Since fares for public transportation should be kept low to make them affordable for the traveling public, operators rely on government subsidies. Each operator has its own ways of generating revenue to cover their costs.

Auctioning naming rights is a common practice in some parts of the world, said Tri Tjahjono, a transportation expert from the University of Indonesia.

“As long as the original name of the station is maintained. To further entice companies, the station can be painted resembling the colors of its sponsor,” he said.

Aditya Dwi Laksana, chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society’s (MTI) train transportation forum, said the names of the stations should be delineated for commercial and operational purposes to make it clear for passengers, as sponsor-based names could change.

He added that auctioning naming rights was indeed a feasible source of revenue in the short term, but in the long term revenue should come from transit-oriented development (TOD) housing projects at stations, which could generate even bigger revenues.

“The biggest income of the MTR [Mass Transit Railway] in Hong Kong, for instance, is from the property sector. [Non-ticket revenue] is more than just a way to cross subsidize operational costs or to ease the burden on the state budget, it is also needed for the company’s future investment to improve services,” he said.

He said ensuring affordability, while maintaining service quality was a priority for the MRT, the first service of its kind in Indonesia, amid the high dependency on private vehicles by commuters in the capital.

The MRT has yet to determine the fare for the service but a preliminary study the company conducted revealed that the fare would be around Rp 17,000 (US$1.20) without a subsidy. The service is expected to transport 173,000 passengers daily.

The government will subsidize the fare through its Public Service Obligation (PSO) program.

Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Indonesia country director Yoga Adiwinarto said the subsidy should be maintained for public transportation services in Jakarta, which is notorious for its traffic congestion.