Fare Cut to Attract Passengers

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

A crowd of passengers throngs the entrance to the MRT Jakarta station at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Sunday (3/31/2019), the final day of the free trial run. Station attendants applied an open-close entry method to prevent the station from becoming overcrowded.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Starting Monday (1/4/2019), the MRT will commence commercial operations. Nevertheless, during April, the Jakarta administration has applied a discount of 50 percent from the stipulated fares.

The decision to apply the MRT fares and discounts on the route between Bundaran HI (Hotel Indonesia traffic circle) and Lebak Bulus was disclosed through a written press statement on Sunday afternoon. According to the statement, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan signed Gubernatorial Regulation No. 34/2019, which regulates the MRT and LRT fares.

Moreover, PT MRT Jakarta has also sent a letter to the Jakarta administration regarding the request for discounted ticket prices in April. The MRT fares will range from Rp 3,000 to Rp 14,000 per passenger.

Anies said discounts would be applied so that more people would use the MRT and to improve information dissemination on MRT use.

"So, in accordance to the stipulated fare discount, from Lebak Bulus to Bundaran HI, which should be Rp 14,000 one way, is discounted to Rp 7,000 this month. Similarly, for example, from Dukuh Atas to Fatmawati, which was supposed to be Rp 12,000 this month, is only Rp 6,000. From Bundaran HI to Dukuh Atas, which should be Rp 3,000, it is only Rp 1,500," Anies said.

MRT Jakarta has prepared 35 automatic ticket vending machine (TVM) at 13 MRT Jakarta stations. Besides TVM, ticket counters are also available at the station.

At the TVM or at the counter, passengers can buy single trip MRT Jakarta cards (one way).

"Currently there is only a single trip card. The MRT Jakarta Multitrip card is not yet available because it is still in the licensing process," said corporate secretary division head of MRT Jakarta, M. Kamaluddin.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Passengers lounge at the Bundaran HI station as an MRT Jakarta train pulls in on Sunday (3/31/2019), the final day of the free trial run. The MRT Jakarta starts commercial operations on Monday, April 1.

The single trip card can be saved for up to a week. After that, its validity period expires. Passengers can also return the card to the counter and get a deposit of Rp 15,000 after utilizing the single trip card.

MRT passengers can also use e-money cards (Bank Mandiri), Brizzi (BRI), TapCash (BNI), Flazz (BCA), JakartaOne (Bank DKI), and JakLingko cards.

Seven trains

M. Effendi, the director of operations and maintenance of MRT Jakarta, said seven trains were ready to operate throughout April. Another series of trains are on standby.

MRT trains are available at every station every 10 minutes. Travel time from HI Station to Lebak Bulus is 28.5 minutes.

The first MRT train departs from Lebak Bulus Station at 5:30 a.m. The first train from Bundaran HI Station departs at 5:36 a.m. toward Lebak Bulus Station. Every day, the last train will depart from Bundaran HI Station to Lebak Bulus at 10:01 p.m.

William P. Sabandar, the managing director of MRT Jakarta, said information on travel time, number of stations being passed, and inter-mode integration at each station, was informed in the MRT Jakarta application.

He advised users to download and use the MRT Jakarta application via their mobile phones.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Passengers walk on March 26, 2019 along the pedestrian way on Jl. Kendal, which passes under Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. The Transit Oriented Development (TOD) area provides a pedestrian walk connecting the Commuter Line’s (KRL) Sudirman Station, the Airport Train’s BNI City Station, the MRT Jakarta’s Dukuh Atas Station and a Transjakarta bus shelter, and has been designed to facilitate intermodal transport passengers.

Meanwhile, traffic density was seen at a number of MRT stations on Sunday. Under the Lebak Bulus Station in South Jakarta, for example, public transportation vans serving the Parung-Lebak Bulus route and those serving Bintaro-Lebak Bulus route stopped to wait for passengers around the station entrance area near the Transjakarta bus stop.

Even though a traffic sign prevented drivers from stopping around the station, the public transportation vans continued to wait for passengers for five-10 minutes. As a result, the speed of vehicles going to South Tangerang was hampered, including the Transjakarta bus heading to the bus stop.

Moreover, a number of motorcycle taxis and taxis were seen parked on the right and left side of the road around the station. The condition was worsened by carts belonging to beverage sellers on the north side of the station. Something similar was seen around the Blok M MRT station. (HLN/E10/E22)

Warga naik Ratangga di Stasiun moda raya terpadu (MRT) Bundaran HI, Jakarta Pusat, Minggu (31/3/2019). Mulai besok, MRT akan beroperasi secara komersial.