T

he Jakarta Transportation Agency has given an assurance that Transjakarta’s corridor 1 serving Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta will not be changed despite suggestions it should be adjusted when the MRT service begins commercial operations next year.

Many argue the service will overlap with the MRT, which will run from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, and hence, the Transjakarta service should instead serve as a feeder service for the MRT.

“There will be no change to Transjakarta [routes] when the MRT is operational,” the agency’s acting head Sigit Widjatmoko said on Wednesday. “Our goal is to provide the best public transportation possible.”

He added that the Transjakarta service was the preferred choice of many commuters who sought affordable transportation, and that changing the route may encourage greater use of private vehicles in Jakarta, home to over 4.4 million cars and 13 million motorbikes.

There are 18 bus stations along the 12.9 kilometer corridor that commenced operation in 2004. A trip costs Rp 3,500 (23 US cents). The fare for the 16-km MRT service has yet to be determined by the Jakarta administration, however, its operator, PT MRT Jakarta, has hinted that it will be around Rp 850 per km.

Transjakarta has seen a growing number of passengers in the last couple of years. It currently serves around 700,000 passengers daily, a jump from 331,000 in 2015. Corridor 1 contributes significantly to that figure, according to the operator.

Transjakarta aims to serve 1 million passengers per day after the launch of the Jak Lingko system that seeks to integrate angkot (public minivan) and other micro bus services with the city’s public transportation system, which includes the MRT and light rail transit (LRT) that will also begin operations early next year.

Tori Damantoro of the Jakarta Transportation Council (DTKJ) said that better planning, including route adjustments, would be needed to make the city’s public transportation system effective and efficient and to avoid the overlapping of services.

“Overlapping should not occur, as it will burden the [state] budget through subsidies,” he said.

The second phase of the MRT service will connect Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta, with construction expected to commence early next year.

MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said the MRT should be made the backbone of Jakarta’s public transportation network, as it is in many other major cities across the globe, suggesting that other modes of transportation should function as feeders for the rail-based service.

“Ideally, the MRT will be the backbone. But we cannot decide just yet because we have to see the dynamic and demand from the public first,” he said.

Construction of the first phase of the MRT stood at 97.08 percent on Oct. 25 with the operator running a system acceptance test to check for signal, power system and rolling stock issues.

When fully operational, the service will be able to carry 173,000 passengers daily with the operator targeting to carry 65,000 passengers daily in the initial days of operation.

The operator is currently seeking opportunities to generate revenue from non-fare sources including advertisements, naming rights for stations and the sale of properties it plans to develop around the stations.