Good Public Transportation

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

A blue Trans Semarang bus of the Semarang busway service drives past Lawang Sewu on Sunday (01/20/2019) in Semarang, Central Java. Having commenced operations in 2009, the Trans Semarang now serves passengers along seven busway corridors at Rp 3,500 for adults and Rp 1,000 for passengers with a valid student ID or child identity card.

The TransJakarta bus network has improved the face of Jakarta. On the other hand, many cities in this country are still in need of good public transportation.

For three consecutive days since Monday (Jan. 21, 2019), this daily has covered the development of road-based public transportation in the capital city as well as other regions. TransJakarta’s success has encouraged other regions to adopt the same model of public bus services under the bus rapid transit (BRT) system. Each region and city has different capabilities, so they cannot fully replicate the TransJakarta model.

It must also be admitted that while the TransJakarta system has created a new mobile habit among the capital’s residents since it opened on Jan. 15, 2004, the change is not complete. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Tuesday (Jan. 22) at an Indonesian Journalists Association seminar that 75 percent of people who traveled to Jl. Jend. Sudirman used private vehicles, and only 25 percent used public transportation. Slowly but surely, the number of people in Jakarta using public transportation is increasing.

Furthermore, the Jakarta provincial administration, with support from the central government, has integrated the Transjakarta service with the mass rapid transit (MRT), the JakLingko public transportation, the light rail transit (LRT) and the Commuter train. Public transport users are gaining more facilities while private vehicle users are increasingly disadvantaged, for example through expensive parking fees.

The public transportation policy does not simply aim to limit the volume of vehicles on the roads to overcome congestion; developing public transportation is an engineering strategy to make urban living and cities healthier and prosperous. The 2018 Indonesian Smart City Index (IKCI) that Kompas compiled adopts the smart city concept of Boyd Cohen, an international smart city activist, which incorporates public transportation (mobility) as a determining factor, alongside smart environment, economy, government, society and quality life. Smart cities must also have a smart public transportation system.

Convenient and affordable public transportation provide ease of mobility in a city. This will encourage the city economy to grow. Person-to-person interactions also increase, and residents will in turn give birth to new innovations and creative solutions to support fellow residents and city life.

The Transportation Ministry is encouraging other regional administrations to develop smart public transportation systems, not just Jakarta. The government’s bus assistance is not enough to change the face and life of a city. There must be strong commitment from the local administration, legislators and the people.

A city or regency that does not have a good public transportation system will not only be chaotic, but will also suffer economic losses. According to JICA, Greater Jakarta has suffered losses of Rp 65 trillion due to congestion. Congestion only adds to a city’s problems, because it only increases stress among its residents to hamper their creativity.