Jakarta Announces Improvements to BRT

Posted: 01 Jun 2005

Related to: Jakarta BRT, Developing High-Quality, Low-Cost Mass Transit, Indonesia
Contributed by: John Ernst

During the past 12 months of operation, daily ridership on Jakarta’s Bus Rapid Transit system, TransJakarta, has nearly doubled to 65,000 passengers. Construction is now underway on a second and third corridor, both slated to open by the end of the year.

As the system expands, the number of passengers on the existing corridor, which runs 12.9 kilometers between the transit hubs Blok M and Kota, is expected to double, causing overcrowding. According to the Jakarta Post, in preparation for the expansion, Jakarta Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo announced plans for a series of improvements to make it easier for passengers to enter and leave buses, add more capacity to the corridor, and reduce backlogs of buses at stations. The city will add more doorways to bus shelters, as well as introduce articulated buses with more doors. Bowo also said that the administration would eventually integrate the busway system with the existing Senen bus station in Central Jakarta as part of a renovation of the area.

The announcement followed a presentation by ITDP to the Deputy Governor. “We take the suggestions they gave us seriously. Some will be applied to our new busway corridors,” Bowo told the Jakarta Post. “An articulated bus is ready and the TransJakarta busway management is preparing a test run.”

According to ITDP projections, adding the additional doors to stations would cut the current boarding time in half. The improvements will increase capacity on the first TransJakarta corridor from 2,700 to 6,000 passengers per hour per direction. Using articulated buses would further boost the corridor’s capacity to 9,600.