Mustaqim Adamrah and Tifa Asrianti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Commuters have been steering clear of the city's busway system as delays and travel times continue to lengthen.
City transportation agency deputy head Udar Pristono said the number of commuters dropped from 210,000 a day last year to 180,000 a day now.
Deputy Governor Prijanto said he was looking into the situation.
"Perhaps the decreasing number of ticket sales has been triggered by the longer time passengers need to take for a bus to arrive and to travel on," he said at City Hall.
"I'm intrigued to find out whether our busway system would reach an ideal state and if the number of passengers would rebound if we added more buses to particular routes. For example, we could move buses operating in corridors 4 to 7 to corridors 1 to 3," he said.
Utar said the drop in passengers may have been caused by the city's "mixed traffic" policy, instituted by Governor Fauzi Bowo late last year, which allows motorists to use the busway lanes in certain areas and at certain times.
It was introduced after motorists mounted a series of protests over traffic jams caused by the construction of corridors 8 to 10.
"Ideally, commuters need only 40 to 50 minutes to travel from Ragunan (in South Jakarta) to Dukuh Atas (in Central Jakarta), but it can take 80 minutes in practice because of those other vehicles also using busway lanes," said Pristono.
He said motorists were not allowed to pass through corridors 1 to 7 but could use 8, 9 and 10 until they were completed.
Aimed at temporarily tackling congestion across Jakarta, the policy has since drawn praise from motorists and anger from bus passengers.
Busway operator TransJakarta's infrastructure manager Taufik Adiwianto said busway passenger numbers had dropped considerably since the policy was implemented last year.
"Corridor 6 is the hardest hit, with a 10 percent decrease. It now serves only 18,000 passengers per day, compared to 20,000 previously," Taufik told The Jakarta Post.
He said the decrease in other corridors also affected the number of passengers on Corridor 1.
Corridor 1, which used to serve more than 80,000 passengers per day, now only serves between 70,000 and 75,000, according to Taufik.
"I'm sure the passengers prefer to drive their own cars or motorcycles as there is no difference, whether they're taking the busway or not," he said.
"Hopefully, the administration will review the mixed traffic regulation. The lanes should be exclusively for the busway only during the peak hours, which last between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.," he said.
Corridor Route
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- Kota (W. Jakarta) - Blok M (S. Jakarta)
- Pulo Gadung (E. Jakarta) - Harmoni (C. Jakarta)
- Kalideres (W. Jakarta) - Harmoni (C. Jakarta)
- Pulo Gadung (E. Jakarta) - Dukuh Atas (C. Jakarta)
- Ancol (N. Jakarta) - Kampung Melayu (E. Jakarta)
- Ragunan - Kuningan (both S. Jakarta)
- Kampung Rambutan - Kampung Melayu (both E. Jakarta)
- Lebak Bulus (S. Jakarta) - Harmoni (C. Jakarta)
- Pinang Ranti (E. Jakarta) - Pluit (N. Jakarta)
- Cililitan (E. Jakarta) - Tanjung Priok (N. Jakarta)
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