TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama plans to restrict Transjakarta-Integrated Border Transportation (APTB) buses from operating within the city limits as soon as the additional Scania buses arrive from Sweden in June. "Come June, APTB operators should join the pay-per-kilometer bidding process," Ahok told Tempo on Sunday, May 24, 2015.
Previously, Ahok said that APTBs would not be allowed to cross the city border by May. That said, Ahok decided against it after having found that the amount of buses serving the capital was still inadequate for Transjakarta to deliver services as set out in its target.
It is known that 20 Scania buses will be deployed beginning in June on corridors that are running short of buses. That way, continued Ahok, the Jakarta Administration could provide transport services to more residents, and could hopefully meet its target of providing 24-hour bus services by 2016.
The head of Jakarta's Transport Agency, Benjamin Bukit, said that his officials had received a note from Ahok regarding the planned restriction on APTB services. Under Ahok's scheme, APTBs will be allowed to set passengers down near the city's limits, before having to turn back at the nearest junction to return to their initial points of departure.
Currently, APTB services operate on 21 routes. Thirteen services run between Bogor and Jakarta, four runs between Bekasi and Jakarta, two services run between Tangerang and Jakarta, while the remaining services run between Ciputat and Central Jakarta. Under the new scheme, 17 services between Bekasi and Bogor will terminate at UKI Cawang Bus Terminal in East Jakarta before heading back out of the capital.
YOLANDA RYAN ARMINDYA