JAKARTA. Dicky Isral, a resident of Kalideres in West Jakarta, was delighted to learn Transjakarta would begin a 24-hour service starting next month. “Is that so? That’s good news for me because I often leave work late at night and miss the last bus home. There are many night workers who will benefit from this service,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. He said he regularly took Transjakarta to his old office on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta and would continue taking the bus to reach his new office in Blok M, South Jakarta. However, his options for public transportation were limited at night as the Transjakarta bus only operated until 11:30 p.m., while buses operated by state-run Djakarta Transportation Bus Company (PPD) operated until 12 a.m. “Sometimes I have to dig deep into my pocket to take a taxi. Once, I risked using illegal transportation that offered a more affordable price than a taxi,” Dicky said. People offering illegal transportation at night are a common sight in a number of locations, including near Plaza Semanggi shopping mall on Jl. Gatot Subroto and near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. They usually use private multipurpose vehicles (MPV) cars that often have been modified to cater to a larger number of passengers. Transjakarta Management Body (BLU) spokeswoman Sri Ulina said the management had renovated 88 old buses that used to be operated by PT Jakarta Express Trans on Corridor 1 plying the Blok M-Kota route. “We have renewed the interiors and exteriors of the buses. They will operate from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and charge the same fare of Rp 3,500 [28 US cents],” she said over the phone. Ulina said the night Transjakarta buses were due to start operating in early January 2014. The night buses will eventually serve all corridors, but initially they will only serve Corridor 1. “The 24-hour service is an instruction from the governor. We want to respond to the high demand for public transportation and minimize illegal transportation.”She said Corridor 1 was chosen as the pilot project because it had a high volume of passengers as the route passed through office areas, shopping malls and night entertainment spots. Ulina said the tender to operate the night buses in Corridor 1 was won by PT Bianglala Metropolitan, which also operated on Corridor 12 plying the Pluit-Tanjung Priok route in North Jakarta.Transjakarta buses have been operating since 2004. In 2011, the operational hours were extended from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. The city administration is to deploy hundreds of new Transjakarta buses to encourage commuters to switch to public transportation from private cars or motorcycles in an effort to ease daily traffic congestion. (Indah Setiawati)
Transjakarta to extend operation to 24-hr service
JAKARTA. Dicky Isral, a resident of Kalideres in West Jakarta, was delighted to learn Transjakarta would begin a 24-hour service starting next month. “Is that so? That’s good news for me because I often leave work late at night and miss the last bus home. There are many night workers who will benefit from this service,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. He said he regularly took Transjakarta to his old office on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta and would continue taking the bus to reach his new office in Blok M, South Jakarta. However, his options for public transportation were limited at night as the Transjakarta bus only operated until 11:30 p.m., while buses operated by state-run Djakarta Transportation Bus Company (PPD) operated until 12 a.m. “Sometimes I have to dig deep into my pocket to take a taxi. Once, I risked using illegal transportation that offered a more affordable price than a taxi,” Dicky said. People offering illegal transportation at night are a common sight in a number of locations, including near Plaza Semanggi shopping mall on Jl. Gatot Subroto and near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. They usually use private multipurpose vehicles (MPV) cars that often have been modified to cater to a larger number of passengers. Transjakarta Management Body (BLU) spokeswoman Sri Ulina said the management had renovated 88 old buses that used to be operated by PT Jakarta Express Trans on Corridor 1 plying the Blok M-Kota route. “We have renewed the interiors and exteriors of the buses. They will operate from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and charge the same fare of Rp 3,500 [28 US cents],” she said over the phone. Ulina said the night Transjakarta buses were due to start operating in early January 2014. The night buses will eventually serve all corridors, but initially they will only serve Corridor 1. “The 24-hour service is an instruction from the governor. We want to respond to the high demand for public transportation and minimize illegal transportation.”She said Corridor 1 was chosen as the pilot project because it had a high volume of passengers as the route passed through office areas, shopping malls and night entertainment spots. Ulina said the tender to operate the night buses in Corridor 1 was won by PT Bianglala Metropolitan, which also operated on Corridor 12 plying the Pluit-Tanjung Priok route in North Jakarta.Transjakarta buses have been operating since 2004. In 2011, the operational hours were extended from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. The city administration is to deploy hundreds of new Transjakarta buses to encourage commuters to switch to public transportation from private cars or motorcycles in an effort to ease daily traffic congestion. (Indah Setiawati)