TransJakarta Bus History: When Sutiyoso Presents Mainstay Busway For Jakarta Residents

JAKARTA - The Governor of DKI Jakarta is often provoked in presenting comfortable public transportation. Sutiyoso, for example. He took full advantage of the results of studies abroad by members of the DKI Jakarta DPRD to Bogota, Colombia.

Sutiyoso then attracted to the public transportation system, the busway in Bogota, Colombia. Sutiyoso was interested in adopting it. He then planned the presence of TransJakarta buses and the busway lane. The first corridor he inaugurated was Blok M-Kota.

It is not easy to change people's habits from using private vehicles to public transportation. The thought is also present in every mind of the Jakarta leader. They basically want to provide the best public transportation.

In fact, the execution was not easy. That desire is only in the mindset. Because, there is no one who can really bring the best mass transportation. There is also a foreign economic and metromini KRL that is not enough to make Jakarta residents in the 2000s era change habits.

This condition is because public transportation in that era was inundated. Metromini is inadequate. The bus is dilapidated. The driver is reckless. This condition is exacerbated by the habit of getting off passengers carelessly. Something that endangers other motorists.

Economic KRL is no less dilapidated. KRL carriages are uncomfortable. It's dirty too. Prone to sexual harassment. Not to mention that many people ride without paying a ticket. This condition brings injustice to those who pay.

As a result, when they had a private vehicle, the option of public transportation was forgotten. Everything changed when Sutiyoso boarded as Governor of DKI Jakarta in the 1997-2007 era. Sutiyoso had a great desire to create a new mass transportation.

He tried to rack his brain. However, the idea was obtained when a member of the DKI Jakarta DPRD visited Bogota. The visit brought a story related to the busway. At that time Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), TransMilenio made Sutiyoso attracted. Even though the mayor of Bogota wanted to be removed at the beginning of TransMilenio operating.

"I want to be knocked out because of this busway, but after the public knew its uses, now I am being demoted every day because they ask for the corridor to be added as soon as possible," said the Mayor of Bogota, the originator of the road, Luis Eduardo Garz

Sutiyoso, who has been attracted by mass transportation, the BRT system wants to step on the gas. He immediately understood the idea of building a TransJakarta bus and the busway will get rejected from here and there. However, for a change in Sutiyoso's change, it didn't matter.

He held that the operation of TransJakarta buses was 10 times cheaper than working on a subway. Sutiyoso did not want the origin. The consultant was immediately brought in from Colombia to present comfortable and safe transportation.

As a result, the DKI Jakarta government prepared funds of IDR 132 billion in 2003. All kinds of busway facilities are under construction. The initial phase of the TransJakarta bus procurement project which reached more than 50 is carried out.

Sutiyoso plans to build many busway corridors with supporting stops in stages. However, Corridor one Blok M-Kota is the main busway lane. The narrative is because of the corridors of Blok M - Kota most through strategic areas.

At its peak, the first busway Blok M city along 12.9 km was inaugurated on January 15, 2004. The inauguration made curious Jakarta residents curious and curious to feel the sensation of taking a TransJakarta bus free of obstacles. Have your own path too.

busway's presence shifted the interest of Jakarta residents who had previously used the metromini to TransJakarta. However, that doesn't mean thatbusway's presence has not been criticized. Criticism continues to come to Sutiyoso. Fortunately, Sutiyoso has understood what the Mayor of Bogota had previously felt.

The mayor of the busway was originally full of insults. Sutiyoso did too. However, in the end, Jakarta residents were busy asking for additional fleets to new corridors. Something that then made the busway a favorite mass transportation for Jakarta residents. In fact, to this day.

In terms of Macro Transportation Patterns (PTM), for example, I believe that the conceptists and professors who know about transportation issues. Not only that, I also brought a consultant from Bogota, the city that first succeeded in implementing a busway in the world.

"Finally I believe PTM is able to solve problems. I as a leader must have the courage to start, even though there are many insults and criticisms," said Sutiyoso in an interview with Tempo magazine entitled Sutiyoso: Leader Must be Rada gendeng (2006).