Local Administrations Urged to be More Proactive
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Transportation Ministry, through the Directorate General of Land Transportation, will continue to provide regional bus assistance as part of the bus rapid transit (BRT) development program under its 2015-2019 strategic plan.
"The procurement of new buses will continue, but not as many [buses] as before, because we will be more selective," land transportation director general Budi Setiyadi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Regional governments must actively apply for the bus assistance to the central government. "They must write an official letter [of application], explain their reasons as well as their commitments," said Budi.
The application should not come from both the local government and the regional legislature. The BRT program would work only with the strong executive and legislative commitment.
"The central government only facilitates. The infrastructure and budgets for the program must be prepared by the regional governments," said Budi.
Business system and model
Transportation researcher Djoko Setijowarno of Soegijapranata Catholic University-Semarang said that for some people, the BRT was only a physical change in the buses, raised shelters and special bus lanes. "Perhaps this misunderstanding occurs because under the BRT program, the regions only receive assistance in the form of high-floor buses and shelter construction," Djoko said.
The main difference between conventional public buses and the BRT system was in the business model. For example, the Jakarta provincial government purchases the service from the bus operator, PT Transportasi Jakarta (TransJakarta). Under this system, the driver did not need to wait until the bus filled up with passengers or rush to fulfill the setoran (revenue quota). The departure time and length of the route were arranged to ensure punctuality.
The BRT system was operated under a public transportation subsidy that was accountable.
"The BRT business system has not been explained to the regions and there is a lack of budgetary support," Djoko continued. Some cities were somewhat confused about how the BRT was operated, especially regarding its business model, budgeting, institutional management and regulations. As a result, it was natural that BRT services in some cities were initially good to start with, and then their performance declined. The Transportation Ministry was urged to assist local administrations actively to prevent this problem from recurring.
Not yet operational
North Kalimantan transportation agency head Taufan and his staff must think hard to effectively utilize the five buses the Transportation Ministry provided in December.
The most difficult obstacle was that the agency has been unable to decide whether a regionally owned company or a private company would operate the bus service.
Meanwhile, Pontianak transportation agency secretary Khairul Azhar said that the central government had provided five BRT buses to the municipality. The buses had been in operation since 2017. "However, public use of the BRT has not been optimal. Most of the passengers are students," said Khairul.
In Banten, the city of Serang still does not have a master plan on public transportation. The construction of new bus shelters will be financed by the 2019 regional budget. Furthermore, the Serang administration was still waiting for bus assistance from the Transportation Ministry. "Indeed, no master plan exists for the Serang public transportation [system]," said Serang mayor Syafrudin, who was installed only a month ago.
Ambon municipal transportation agency head Robby Sapulette said in Ambon, Maluku, that the agency would gradually replace the existing mikrolet (minivan) public transportation vehicle with minibuses from the central government.
Managing director I Gede Jelantik of PT Trans Bandar Lampung said that initially, 120 buses operated in city. Today, only 60 buses were in operation. The city’s BRT system served only the Rajabasa-Panjang route. "Some buses are damaged. Some are not in operation because of [financial] losses," Gede said on Tuesday.
He said that the BRT was currently operating under the setoran system of daily revenue quotas, with the driver paying Rp 250,000 to the bus company every day. A single trip cost Rp 5,000 per passenger. To survive, the bus operator was forced to rent out its buses to serve routes outside the city. "We are surviving because the BRT is the icon of Bandar Lampung. We are trying to operate one to two buses every day," said Gede. (ARN/ESA/PRA/VIO/BAY/FRN/FLO/NEL)