City-owned transportation company PT MRT Jakarta, however, aims to brush off the concerns, arguing that people will not get infected in train cars as long as health protocols are strictly implemented.

MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said a study by the Bandung Institute of Technology's School of Business and Management suggested that there was nothing conclusive about COVID-19 transmission on public transportation.

“The study showed that [coronavirus transmission on public transportation] has not been proven. This also demonstrates that the stigma surrounding public transportation as a place that is at high risk of transmission is not true,” William claimed during a virtual press conference on Thursday.

He said big cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Manhattan that mostly relied on public transportation had recorded fewer COVID-19 cases compared to Kansas and Staten Island in the United States, where people tended to use private vehicles.

He said that if everyone maintained discipline in applying the proper health protocols, they would not get infected, wherever they might be.

MRT Jakarta, which operates Indonesia’s first mass rapid transit service, requires all passengers and staff to wear masks, maintain a safe distance and have their body temperature checked before entering stations and trains. The company has also reduced the number of passengers permitted inside train cars to 67, from 250 previously.

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