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MRT to launch as problems remain
A new chapter of Indonesia’s transportation will begin on Sunday with the inauguration of the highly anticipated MRT
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A new chapter of Indonesia’s transportation will begin on Sunday with the inauguration of the highly anticipated MRT. But just two days before the launch not everything seems to be in place to support the service.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is scheduled to officially launch the country’s first ever subway on Sunday morning. But it will only start its commercial operation a week later on April 1, as there are still a number of unresolved issues
The Jakarta administration and the Jakarta Council have not met eye to eye over the fares for the service and the amount to be subsidized. The two parties are set to hold a final meeting to discuss the issues on Monday.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and PT MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar announced that the MRT would be free of charge from March 25 to 31 before the service starts commercially operating on April 1, after which residents would be required to purchase tickets. Starting Monday, residents can simply go to a station and hop on a train without having to register, as has been necessary during the current two-week trial period. The service will be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. everyday.
Although free for a week, passengers are still required to pay a Rp 15,000 (US$1.06) deposit for a single trip card and Rp 25,000 for a multiple trip card at the counters or ticket machines, as they are needed to access the stations. “Passengers may return it at the destination station and get their money back,” William said at a press conference on Friday.
Without the subsidies, the ticket price would be Rp 31,000, which is feared would discourage residents from using the service for their daily commute. The city administration had planned to subsidize the fare by Rp 21,659 with a proposed fare of Rp 10,000.
City councillors, however, had said the subsidy was too high and that it was not fair to subsidise tickets for passengers coming from satellite cities, since the budget would mostly come from tax paid by Jakartans.
During the first month of commercial operation, the company will deploy eight trains from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. with a 10-minute headway for the 16-kilometer service linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.
“In May or June, assuming that the number of passengers will have increased, we will deploy 16 trains from 5 a.m. until 12 a.m. with a five to 10-minute headway,” he added.
William also revealed that the company had recently obtained all legal requirements to operate. The city administration has issued a gubernatorial decree as a basic permit for the MRT to run their service.
Although commending the service, President Jokowi also mentioned points for improvement after riding the MRT for the second time on Thursday. He ordered the company to fix the gap between the train car and the platform, which could be a problem for passengers, especially those with disabilities or in wheelchairs.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) previously highlighted a lack of signage and public announcements for the safety of passengers.
Anies had concurred saying that he had taken the complaints about signage on the trains and in stations as feedback.
William said the company would rush to sort out the signage problems after the launch, and expected it to be completed before April 1.
“But overall, the MRT is ready to be launched,” he claimed.
Other facilities that residents have complained about include the park-and-ride and the pickup areas for motorcycle taxis. MRT Jakarta and the Jakarta administration, through the city’s Transportation Agency, have prepared park-and-ride facilities near Lebak Bulus and Fatmawati stations in South Jakarta.
The one in Lebak Bulus is located on an 8,000-square-meter plot of land, formerly owned by the National Police, on Jl. RA Kartini. The area is around 200 meters from Lebak Bulus Station — around 5 minutes by foot.
As of Friday, some parking gates had been installed although the ground was yet to be covered with paving blocks.
The park-and-ride in Fatmawati is located in the South Quarter building, which is some 800 m from Fatmawati Station.
“It’s quite far. We would need support from Transjakarta to open a new route that passes these two locations or a shuttle to accommodate MRT passengers,” William said.
According to Gubernatorial Regulation No. 31/2017, the park-and-ride facilities should apply a flat rate for every kind of vehicle: Rp 5,000 for four-wheeled vehicles and Rp 2,000 for motorcycles.
MRT Jakarta also plans to open a pickup area at all of its stations, which will be a designated area for other modes of public transportation and motorcycle taxi drivers to pick up and drop off their passengers without disturbing the traffic.
