Inaugurating the Jabodebek LRT, Jokowi Admits It's Not Easy to Invite People to Take Public Transportation

Jabodetabek workers use KRL (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) admits that it is not easy to change people's habits to immediately switch to public transportation. He hopes that the use of public transportation can reduce congestion and pollution.

This was said by Jokowi when inaugurating the operation of the Jabodebek LRT, at Cawang Station, East Jakarta, Monday 28 August.

The former Governor of DKI Jakarta reflected on the use of the MRT which is expected to be fully loaded with a capacity of 180,000 passengers, but on average only around 80,000 passengers per day.

"There is still capacity that has not been fully filled," he said.

According to Jokowi, the presence of the Jabodebek LRT can support existing public transportation such as the MRT, TransJakarta, as well as the airport train and LRT.

"We hope that people will flock to the LRT, both from Cibubur and its surroundings, as well as Bekasi and its surroundings, so that we can avoid traffic jams and reduce pollution," Jokowi said.

Jokowi said, Jakarta is a city that is always included in the 10 most congested cities in the world. Every day, around 996,000 motorized vehicles enter Jakarta.

"Why were the MRT, LRT, Transjakarta, airport trains built, so that all of our people switch from private transportation to mass transportation," he said.

Previously, the Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi targeted the number of LRT users to reach 500,000 per day. This was conveyed when testing the Jabodebek LRT for the Harjamukti route to Dukuh Atas.

"The construction of the Jabodebek LRT is indeed part of the solution to overcome congestion on the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road and Jagorawi Toll Road. So, people can switch from private vehicles to integrated public transportation via LRT," he said.

For your information, one LRT trainset consists of six carriages, with a capacity of 740 passengers to 1,308 passengers. After operating commercially, the Jabodebek LRT will serve 560 trips a day on weekdays with a headway or arrival time between trains of around 3 to 6 minutes.