There Is A Proposal For Transjakarta To Be Expanded To Become Transjabodetabek

JAKARTA - Transportation observer, Elly Adriani Sinaga, suggested that the government expand the Transjakarta mode to Transjabodetabek. This means that public bus rapid transit (BRT) does not only reach Jakarta, but also penetrates the Jabodetabek buffer zone.

This, said Elly, could help increase the target use of public transportation modes, as mandated in Presidential Regulation No. 55/2018 concerning the Jakarta Transportation Master Plan.

"I think Transjakarta should be raised to become a transjabodetabek. We must have one Jabodetabek transportation network. Because, the key to increasing the use of public transportation is integration," said Elly in a webinar discussion at the Ministry of Transportation, Wednesday, August 12.

Elly said, the main manager of Transjabodetabek will later be held by the Head of the Jabodetabek Transportation Management Agency (BPTJ). Apart from that, there are other agencies as public transport councils.

"Later, there will be a public transport council consisting of the local transportation agency, Army Organization, bus operators. Only then will BPTJ be the organizer to monitor the integration," said Elly.

To start planning for Transjabodetabek, Elly said that the government must pay attention to the transportation network nodes. In integrating modes, it is necessary to minimize the complexity of transfer points for transportation users.

Because, he said, the complexity of transfer points for public transportation would make it difficult for people to travel. As a result, they prefer to use private vehicles.

"We need to look at both route and non-railroad networks. For example, if people want to look for public transportation, they must get 500 meters. Then, the change of transportation is a maximum of 3 times," said the former Head of BPTJ.

For information, the government has a target of increasing the use of public transportation in the Jabodetabek Transportation Master Plan (RITJ). By 2029, public transport users must reach a minimum of 60 percent of total transportation activities.

However, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), at the end of 2019, public transportation users currently still reach 34 percent of all community movements.

Moreover, currently Indonesia, and even the world, is being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires limiting the capacity of all activities, including the use of public transportation.

"For this reason, the Ministry of Transportation has issued several regulations in various transportation sectors regarding the implementation of transportation during the adaptation period for new habits to prevent the spread of COVID-19," said Secretary General of the Ministry of Transportation, Djoko Sasono.

"Given the uncertain conditions, the Ministry of Transportation intends to further explore the formulation of the right policy to balance the interests of transportation users and the business world in the transportation sector," he continued.