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Transjakarta strives for more sustainable urban transportation
As someone who takes Transjakarta buses on a daily basis, Rizaldy Yusuf said he was happy with how the service had developed throughout the years
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span>As someone who takes Transjakarta buses on a daily basis, Rizaldy Yusuf said he was happy with how the service had developed throughout the years.
Starting with only a few buses on one corridor 16 years ago, it now operates a fleet of 3,865 buses with various services across Greater Jakarta.
In recent months, Rizaldy said he had really enjoyed the Transjabodetabek bus service that the company offered for residents in Jakarta’s satellite cities. He takes the bus to commute between his house in Tangerang, Banten and his office in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
“I take the Transjabodetabek bus because it’s the cheapest option to commute between Tangerang and Jakarta,” he said on Sunday.
He spends Rp 7,000 (51 US cents) per day for the bus trip, in addition to Rp 20,000 for the ojek (motorcycle taxi) ride from his house to the bus shelter and vice versa.
The 28-year-old expressed hope for the Jakarta-owned bus operator to keep on expanding its routes to help mobility for commuters like him within the agglomerated metropolitan area.
Transjakarta, which commemorated its 16th anniversary on Jan. 15, served a total of 264.6 million passengers throughout 2019 — an increase from 188.9 million in 2018 and 144.8 million in 2017.
Jakarta’s very own bus rapid transit (BRT) service has come so far since its first year of operation, when it served only 15.9 million passengers.
It was partly thanks to the bus service that Jakarta recently received an honorable mention by the Sustainable Transport Award (STA) committee for its accomplishments in sustainable transportation development.
Transjakarta president director Agung Wicaksono thanked everyone who took part in their efforts to develop the road-based public transportation system in the capital.
“This is the result of all our hard work, starting from then-governor Sutiyoso to Governor Anies [Baswedan],” he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Sunday.
“To make it more sustainable, this year we plan to implement three main strategies: sustainable energy, sustainable financing and sustainable service,” he added.
Agung added that the company was planning to promote the use of electric buses to support sustainable transportation. Transjakarta plans to operate at least 10 electric buses during Formula E, a racing competition for electric vehicles also known as the Jakarta ePrix, which is slated to take place in June.
For the sustainable financing, he explained that the company had opened its doors to partnerships that will increase its revenue from non-farebox business or advertising space inside buses.
“This will help us alleviate our dependence on city funds. More non-farebox income is equal to a more sustainable business for Transjakarta,” he said.
Lastly, Agung also explained that the company was set to add more routes for its bus services, from angkot (public minivans) and medium-sized buses to large ones.
Transjakarta now operates 247 routes for large buses and aims to serve 285 routes by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, for angkot and medium-sized bus services Agung said the company would procure more air conditioned vehicles to make the service more comfortable for passengers and attract more people to use them.
“Also, we look forward to further collaboration with the Jakarta Transportation Agency to redesign the angkot routes in a bid to increase the number of passengers. It’s the agency that has the authority to do so,” he said.
Senior urban expert from the Jakarta Property Institute (JPI) Mulya Amri said the angkot services played an important role in creating better and more sustainable urban mobility. By having more public transportation options for their first- and last-mile connections, people will have more reasons to leave their vehicles at home.
“I myself sometimes also take angkot services. The routes reach deep into residential areas; the angkot services pick up and drop off passengers near their houses,” Mulya told the Post recently.
Last week, when accepting the honorable mention award from the STA in Washington, DC, the city administration’s economic and financial assistant, Sri Haryati, said she thanked Jakarta residents and stakeholders in the private sector, with whom the city had formed an effective collaboration.
“This award will be a motivation for Jakarta to further develop its integrated transportation system and become a safe and comfortable place for its residents to live in,” she said.
Anies on his personal Twitter account expressed his gratitude by saying, “Alhamdulillah [thank God], this global recognition is a bonus for all of us. The biggest award is actually from Jakarta residents themselves who ride public transportation. Thank you for being part of the change,” the Jakarta governor added.
For 15 years, the STA has given appreciation to cities around the world that have implemented innovative strategies in sustainable urban transportation issues such as mass transportation systems, pedestrian and cyclist facilities and parking management.
Jakarta was nominated alongside 12 cities from various countries, including Richmond (the United States), San Jose (Costa Rica), Kingston (Canada) and Bogota (Colombia). Jakarta made it into the top three with Pune (India) and Kigali (Rwanda).
