Jakarta Plans Bus Rapid Transit System

Posted: 01 Mar 2003

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

In Jakarta, Indonesia, plans to develop a new Bus Rapid Transit system are gaining momentum. In February, a delegation of 15 Indonesian government, local parliament, private sector, press, and NGO representatives attended the International Seminar on Human Mobility in Bogotá. Many of the delegates returned to Indonesia enthusiastic to incorporate what they learned in Bogotá into Jakarta's plans. The city's Governor now plans to make a personal visit to see the city's TransMilenio system in early April.

  Preliminary plans for Jakarta’s Bus Rapid Transit system have been under consideration since 2001, when ITDP organized a workshop on High Capacity Bus Systems with Pelangi, a local environmental organization and the Sustran Secretariat.

After the workshop, which featured presentations by former Bogotá Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso announced plans to open two pilot BRT lanes on the city’s main north-south corridor.

In an effort to speed the implementation of the system, Jakarta planned to open the pilot lanes this year. Busway signs began going up in December 2002, streets were painted with red squares at 29 locations at each direction along the busway lane to differentiate the bus lanes from other traffic lanes.

Two prototype bus shelters complete with turnstiles and automatic doors for boarding have been constructed. On February 28, the city publicly rolled out two prototype BRT buses, which the city has purchased, with the Governor, several top officials, and media on board. Several more trial runs are planned over the coming months to publicize the busway.

However, many citizens, NGO groups and technical advisors were uncomfortable with the preliminary plans. After returning from the International Seminar on Human Mobility, several attendees called on the city’s leadership to postpone the opening of the lanes until more of the plan’s operational details are worked out.

At a press conference on February 20, critics urged Jakarta’s leadership to provide safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian routes to the stations, be more inclusive in its planning process, popularize the project with the public, and rethink the BRT system’s management structure. The initial plans would likely give authority to the city’s existing bus operator, PPD, to operate the system, procure buses, and collect fares.

Photo: Bus shelters are already going up.

However, most of those who visited Bogotá would prefer that these operations be contracted out to the private sector, as is done in Bogotá. Other areas for concern are how to better design bus shelters for comfort and security, what type of buses to use on the corridors, and how to incorporate a network of feeder buses to support the BRT corridors.

In early February, Governor Sutiyoso announced that he will postpone the opening of the BRT lanes and travel to Bogotá at the end of April to see the TransMilenio system, as well as the city’s other transportation improvements, in person.