From Curitiba to Jakarta

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

The newly constructed CSW shelter of the TransJakarta BRT’s Corridor 13, which serves the Ciledug-Kuningan route, stands empty above an intersection in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, Sunday (01/20/2019). The CSW shelter is an interchange that connects the busway with the Jakarta MRT’s Lebak Bulus-Bundaran HI route.

Effective public transportation is a key factor in development, especially in urban areas. With a good public transportation system, people can reach workplaces, schools, markets, hospitals and many other destinations straight from home.

However, adequate public transportation is often unavailable in many cities in developing countries. Consequently, the local residents often have to rely on private vehicles. Traffic jams ensue, followed by related problems like pollution and health.

Social gaps may also widen. Those with better incomes can enjoy better and more expensive transportation, including private cars and taxis, while those with lower incomes must resort to poor public transportation services.

In terms of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), the 2005 publication Sustainable Transport: A Sourcebook for Policymakers in Developing Cities pointed out that rail-based mass transportation system was the best route to escape this deadlock.

However, rail-based mass transit systems take longer to build and cost more, so the concept of the road-based bus rapid transit (BRT) system emerged as a middle path.

A Kompas Research and Development (Kompas R&D) study pointed to several advantages in the BRT. The buses in the Jakarta BRT (TransJakarta) have passenger load capacities of 42 for medium-sized buses, 82 for large buses and 140 for articulated buses – much larger than cars, motorcycles and regular urban transport vehicles.

Today, it costs from Rp 10 billion (US$705,465.98) to Rp 50 billion per kilometer to build a BRT system. It takes a little under two years for design, preparations and construction. Meanwhile, building a rail-based mass rapid transit system can cost 10 times more per kilometer than a BRT.

A BRT is a modern and efficient bus-based transportation network that minimizes transit times and requires professional management, integrated public transit fares, and good service. Efforts are being made to resolve various urban issues, including traffic jams, pollution and inequality, to create better-organized cities.

It is these various considerations that led the municipal administration of Curitiba, Brazil, to build the world’s first large-scale BRT system in 1974. Over time, the system was adopted in major cities in the US, Canada and the UK.

A contemporary breakthrough in the BRT system was made in 1996in Quito, Ecuador, in its establishment of an electronic bus system. Other cities in Latin America, followed in Quito’s footsteps, including Bogota, Colombia. The BRT fever hit Asia in the early 2000s, when the system was adopted in Taipei in Taiwan, Nagoya in Japan and Jakarta in Indonesia.

Despite much discourse when it was implemented 15 years ago, TransJakarta today is considered a success. The BRT is now part of the national policy on public transportation development. Among the BRT regulations are Government Regulation (PP) No. 74/2014 on road transportation.

To support regional adoption of the BRT, the Transportation Ministry procured 3,000 buses for 33 provinces from 2015 to 2019, funded from the fuel subsidy reallocated for infrastructure development.

Nevertheless, the BRT sourcebook stressed that this was just one of many mass transportation alternatives. Cities must choose the appropriate transportation systems to fit their needs. Providing a variety of options in a mass transport network integrated with regular urban transportation would be effective in supporting the mobility of urban people.