[sustran] Re: ST: Jakarta's controversial new bus service hits theroad

[Brendan Finn]

I agree with Walter that's it's good to see a strong positive step taken.
Weak steps usually fail to achieve either real change or a dynamic for
greater implementation. Regarding problems, it's a careful balance between
making a mess of implementation (thus losing support for future projects)
and being held back until everything's perfect (which it can never be).

My one concern is the report that hundreds of buses which previously used
the route cannot now do so. Perhaps there is a good reason - e.g. if they
are microbuses of poor quality and disorganised. If not, then perhaps we see
one operator being given the most favourable conditions while the other
operators of public transport are pushed into worse conditions. Is this the
case ?

Earlier this week I visited the Quality Bus Network which is being rolled
out on all the main bus corridors in Dublin, Ireland, with about 10 done to
date. This mostly consists of first priority bus lanes, and some local road
and junction widening. Normally, one lane is given exclusively to bus. The
best performing corridor - which was already a busy bus artery - has
experienced a 196% increase in bus carryings, and has an average morning
peak travel time of 32 minutes compared to car average of 65 minutes on the
same 12km stretch. Other corridors have less dramatic figures, but they are
still impressive. Total person throughput (bus and car) has increased in the
corridors for which I saw figures.

Bus lane capacity appears to be hitting at about 4,000 per hour past a
point, but this can be increased substantially. First, more buses could be
operated on the corridors, but it will take time to ramp up the fleet.
Second, at the moment about 65% of all passengers pay cash on the network,
and there is substantial opportunity to reduce stop dwell time. Third, buses
currently obstruct each other at key stops, so some lay-byes are planned to
allow freer flow. Not surprisingly, motorists are very unwilling to let
buses into the general traffic lane for overtaking purposes ! Finally,
perhaps by mid-2005 as all the corridors are implemented, the network effect
will kick-in. On one hand, this should allow greater productivity of the
buses, and therefore allow extra operating capacity from the same fleet. On
the other hand, many commuters with cross-city trips will have time-savings
and reliable journey times, and a further mode shift effect could occur.

I really hope that Jakarta works well. For at least the last 20 years there
has been a concerted promotion of very expensive metro and light-rail, which
uses the key disinformation that bus cannot deliver and that car-users will
reject it. Each implementation of BRT shows these arguments for the rubbish
they are, and opens the political opportunity for affordable solutions which
can be quickly implemented in modular fashion, and accessible to all.

With best wishes,

Brendan Finn.
_______________________________________________________________________
Contact details are : e-mail : etts at indigo.ie   tel : +353.87.2530286

----- Original Message -----
From: <whook at itdp.org>
To: <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>; <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 8:33 PM
Subject: [sustran] Re: ST: Jakarta's controversial new bus service hits
theroad


well, its a great thing that they went forward with this.

of course many problems that have been being pointed out for more than one
year have not yet been fixed, but now they see for themselves the problems.
they are all easily fixable within one year or so.

anyway, we will release our full technical review on our web site in a
couple days.

best
walter

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Barter, Paul paulbarter at nus.edu.sg
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 12:03:22 +0800
To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
Subject: [sustran] ST: Jakarta's controversial new bus service hits the
road


Any views on this from sustran-discussers? Is it well done? Is it a
completely public sector project? Will it be a winner and prove critics
wrong? Will initial problems be given a chance to be ironed out?
Paul
----------------------

Straits Times Interactive
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,230381,00.html?

JAN 16, 2004
Jakarta's controversial new bus service hits the road
Hundreds jostle for free rides as traffic gets worse along route
By Devi Asmarani
STRAITS TIMES INDONESIA BUREAU

JAKARTA - The city's controversial new busway system was launched
yesterday by Governor Sutiyoso amid a barrage of criticism and concerns
that it would worsen the already horrific traffic congestion in the
capital.

The 250 billion rupiah (S$50.3 million) Trans-Jakarta Busway system is
the first of an ambitious seven-year project to put in place a mass
transportation system.
Included in the plans are a monorail and an MRT system.

The aim is to build a comfortable and reliable public transport system
to encourage commuters and city dwellers to leave their private cars at
home.

At the launch ceremony yesterday, the Indonesian capital's controversial
governor said: 'Busway is the answer to our problems, but it is just the
first part of a comprehensive plan to ease the traffic in Jakarta.'

Fifty-six specially built buses, each of which has a capacity of 85
passengers, began plying the 12.9km route which runs from the bus
terminal in the popular Blok M shopping complex to the bustling
Chinatown area.

The buses pick up and drop off passengers at bus shelters on the central
median strip.
The service is free for the first two weeks. Hundreds of people swarmed
many of the 20 bus shelters to try the air-conditioned buses.

Chaos reigned at some of the bus shelters, with people jostling for free
tickets.
One passenger, Mrs Lena, said: 'It's definitely a lot more comfortable,
although it costs twice as much as the bus I normally take.'

The new buses take less than half the time taken by regular buses to
travel that stretch of road, which sees some of the worst traffic
congestion in the city.
But the busway operation - which takes up the outermost lane of an
already congested street - confirmed fears that it would worsen the
traffic situation.

Hundreds of buses now plying that route will no longer operate there
from today, and many people fear that the busway system will not be able
to cope with the load of some 50,000 people travelling the route every
day.

To make matters worse, the promised feeder service - supporting buses
which are to serve routes not covered by the Trans-Jakarta buses - are
not yet operational.
Guests at yesterday's ceremony, which was followed by a trip on the new
buses to Chinatown, included diplomats, businessmen and celebrities.
But noticeably absent was Transport Minister Agum Gumelar and other
Cabinet ministers who were invited to the event.

Mr Agum had previously expressed his disapproval of the project, which
he said was implemented hastily.

Commenting on this, Mr Sutiyoso said: 'The central government did not
even feel compelled in the least to participate in the development of
the transportation infrastructure in this city, although they will enjoy
its benefit.'

Copyright @ 2003 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Forwarded in the interests of education and research

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