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TransJakarta route changes worry commuters
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ommuters are raising concerns about bus operator TransJakarta’s plans to temporarily relocate the Harmoni bus stop in Central Jakarta to accommodate construction work to extend the city’s MRT.
The Harmoni stop, which is to be moved on Saturday, is one of three recently impacted by the construction project, with the Sawah Besar and Mangga Besar bus stops having been relocated on Feb. 28 and 25, respectively.
The temporary Harmoni stop is located just down the road from the original. But given its smaller size, the bus shelter will not be able to serve the same number of routes and passengers, with several bus corridors to be rerouted as a result.
“Now, whenever I leave for work, I have to switch buses twice instead of just once,” Ibnu Wicaksono, a resident of Taman Sari, West Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Ibnu typically rides the Corridor 1 bus from Mangga Besar to Harmoni, where he switches to the Corridor 8 Lebak Bulus-Harmoni bus, which takes him to his workplace in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.
But, with Harmoni no longer an option, Ibnu believes he will now have to change buses at a stop near the National Monument (Monas) and then ride to Pecenongan before catching the Corridor 8 bus.
“I don’t know if there’s a shorter route though. The information from TransJakarta is still scant,” said Ibnu.
Aside from the lack of information, commuters are questioning whether other bus stops are capable of handling the influx of passengers from Harmoni.
While a sign had been posted at the stop informing commuters of the planned relocation, as of Tuesday, there was no comprehensive listing of relevant route changes, although TransJakarta had made the information available online.
The Monas bus stop acts as a transit point for several different routes, including the Pulogadung-Harmoni Corridor 2 route.
But the Monas bus stop is small compared to other stops along the Blok M-Kota Corridor 1 route.
“The Monas bus stop only has three embarkation platforms, so buses always have to wait in line” before dropping off and picking up passengers, said Jessica Chandra, a resident of Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, who regularly rides the Corridor 2 buses.
The MRT Jakarta commuter train Phase 2A project is set to expand the current MRT route from the existing Hotel Indonesia (HI) Traffic Circle station to Kota.
The first segment of the project, which will connect the HI Traffic Circle station to Harmoni, is set to be completed in 2027, and MRT Jakarta has set a target of 2029 for the completion of the Harmoni-Kota segment.
In 2024, the operator plans to start construction on the 84.1 kilometer Phase 3 East-West line. The route is set to connect Balaraja, Banten, to Cikarang, West Java.
Passenger influx
Earlier this week, TransJakarta decided to push the Harmoni move back from Friday to Saturday, a day when fewer commuters use the stop.
“TransJakarta and MRT Jakarta are now making preparations so the public can still comfortably use our services,” TransJakarta corporate secretary Apriastini Bakti Bugiansri said in a statement on Tuesday.
TransJakarta executive director M Kuncoro Wibowo previously said the company planned to conduct a campaign to communicate the route changes to commuters and had prepared booklets to give out to the public.
“We will also continue to disseminate information through the media and our social media platforms,” Kuncoro told Kompas.
TransJakarta has made some preparations for the expected passenger influx at the Monas stop.
TransJakarta operational and safety director Yoga Adiwinarto said the company planned to expand the current bus stop, with the construction set to begin next year.
In the short term, the bus service operator plans to redirect several routes from Monas to the newly renovated Sarinah bus top, now called the M.H. Thamrin stop.
The heavily trafficked Corridor 6A route, which serves the Ragunan-Monas route and passes through the busy Kuningan area, is one of the buses set to be rerouted to M.H. Thamrin.
Despite the disruptions, Jessica was fully supportive of the ongoing MRT construction project.
“[The MRT is] much better than TransJakarta, so I don’t really mind. Once it’s completed, I’ll probably choose the MRT over TransJakarta, even if it’s more expensive,” said Jessica.
