TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Regional-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta is set to adjust its operational hours during the implementation of large-scale social restriction (PSBB) in the capital starting on Friday, April 10, in the wake of the new coronavirus disease or COVID-19 pandemic.

“In line with the enactment of the PSBB from April 10 to 24, 2020, Transjakarta changes its operating hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” said Transjakarta’s spokesperson Nadia Disposanjoyo in a written statement, Thursday, April 9.

Nadia said the bus will operate on the same schedule as imposed since Governor Anies Baswedan instructed the transport restrictions.

With the adjustment, the bus service is only available in 13 main corridors with a maximum of 60 passengers on each articulated bus, 30 passengers on a big bus, and 15 passengers on a medium bus. Physical distancing orders at least one-length arm inside the bus or at bus stops must also be enforced.

Nadia added that passengers and bus officers are required to wear face masks to prevent virus transmission. “This new operational pattern adds to the existing rules that had been set since the issuance of the Gubernatorial Regulation on COVID-19 emergency in Jakarta.”

Moreover, an additional service of a special queue line is provided for medical workers to give them easy access.

Transjakarta, she went on, had also carried out many efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, such as sanitizing facilities, providing hand sanitizers and portable sinks at several bus stops, as well as disinfecting the buses and bus stops frequently.

“We, Transjakarta management, appeal to the public to stay home if there is nothing urgent,” she remarked.

TAUFIQ SIDDIQ