Rerouting of Buses May See Hundreds Lose Their Jobs | The Jakarta Globe

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Rerouting of Buses May See Hundreds Lose Their Jobs

Arientha Primanita & Obey Wibinnov Sianipar | February 02, 2011

Pande Putu Yasa, a spokesman for transportation company PPD, which serves three of the nine affected routes, said the firm disagreed with the policy. He said it could not simply make up for anticipated losses by moving its buses over to its 24 other routes. Weve calculated each route carefully in terms of the fleet we need, and we cant add more buses just like that because there will be a bus overload, Pande said. He added that PPD had proposed two new routes that do not overlap with the busway, but the city administration had not issued a permit allowing the company to start operating them. In the meantime, he said, the livelihoods of 300 drivers and conductors were in limbo. That includes Wawan, who has driven a bus between Grogol and Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta since 1995. He said that since Corridor IX began operating on Dec. 31, his passenger numbers have dropped by half. Instead of eradicating poverty, the government is eradicating the poor through this policy, he complained. The new rule is also unpopular with some passengers. Wasti, 38, said she regularly took the Patas 46 to get to her office in Taman Anggrek. If this was no longer available, she said, she would be forced to take the busway, which costs Rp 3,500 ($0.40) more than the fare on the regular bus. Its the private cars that should be limited, not the public buses, she said. Hipolitus, the Patas 46 driver, agreed that the regular buses catered to more cash-strapped commuters. This isnt just a bus, he said. The passengers count on us to keep serving this route, as do the street vendors and the buskers whose livelihoods depend on this bus. He also said taking a regular bus was less taxing on older people because it did not require them to climb up the long ramps leading to the busway shelters. Fani, a graduate from Tarumanegara University, said the long trudge from the shelter to the sidewalk was the reason she preferred to take the regular bus rather than the busway. The 23-year-old also said the advent of the busway, and its dedicated lane, along Jalan S. Parman had made the already chronic traffic congestion in the area even worse. Before the busway was built, the traffic after the morning rush hour would be flowing smoothly by 10 a.m., she said. But now look at it. Its always packed, and the congestion extends to other roads as well.

Hipolitus knows about the traffic all too well. Before the arrival of Corridor IX, he said, he could make 20 trips back and forth from Cililitan to Grogol, but that has since fallen to 16 on a good day. The traffic is worse with the busway in place, he said. Because of the reduced number of trips, he sometimes fails to earn enough to pay the daily rent to the buss owner. That means he must pay the remainder out of his own pocket. Ajang Sodikin, head of personnel for bus operator Mayasari Bhakti, which serves six of the nine affected routes, said the fallout from the policy would be more severe than just drivers failing to earn the money necessary to pay for bus rental. Our biggest concern is what will happen to our 800 drivers and assistants, most of whom only have an elementary school education, he said. They cant apply to be busway drivers because that requires graduating from high school. Hipolitus, it turns out, is not the only one working on borrowed time.

The Jakarta administration has ordered that, as of Tuesday, all public bus routes that overlap more than half of Corridor IX must be scrapped.

Hipolitus is worried about his job, and for good reason: Hes working on borrowed time. The 50-yearold drives the Patas 46 bus that runs from Cililitan in East Jakarta to Grogol in West Jakarta. Much of his route runs down Jalan S. Parman in West Jakarta, parallel with the TransJakarta busway Corridor IX, running from Pinang Ranti in East Jakarta to Pluit in North Jakarta. Therein lies the problem. The Jakarta administration has ordered that, as of Tuesday, all public bus routes that overlap more than half of Corridor IX must be scrapped. Hipolitus said he was aware of the order, but he worked anyway on Tuesday because his office told him to. If we can keep on operating here, then well continue doing so because this is where we earn our livelihood, he said. He added that while the administration might be trying to improve busway services, it was not going about it the right way. This is an unfair policy. Its excessive, he said. Its good for boosting busway services, but they should have provided us with a solution first before implementing this policy. A total of 189 buses serving nine routes are affected by the policy, according to Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office. He said Corridors IX and X, which run from Cililitan to Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, had proved popular since being launched at the end of last year. This, he argued, would see fewer passengers taking the regular buses, which in turn would see the buses make longer and more frequent stops to wait for passengers, thus backing up traffic along the road. Udar said the bus operators would be provided a one -week grace period in which to remap their existing routes. After that week is up, well begin enforcing the policy by cracking down on those buses continuing to serve the same routes, he said. He added that the operators appeared amenable to the plan and could use their affected buses to bolster other routes.