Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya Bogor Problem: Goodbye, City Of A Million Angkots, Welcome To The City Of A Thousand Buses

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi. (Photo: Doc. Kemenhub)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation will develop a buy the service (BTS) urban transportation service purchase program. Bogor will be the first trial for the Greater Jakarta area. This program is expected to be able to change the image of the city of Bogor regarding mass transportation.

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi said that Bogor, which is known as the city of rain, is also very famous for the city of a million public transportation (Angkot). With the presence of BTS, Bogor will be transformed into a thousand buses.

"The city of Bogor is the first pilot. With the presence of this BTS, it can turn a city of one million public transportation into a thousand buses", he said in a virtual discussion, Wednesday, April 28.

To note, BTS is a subsidy program based on a term remuneration scheme. The government provides a subsidy for 100 vehicle operating costs needed to implement the minimum service standards set.

Budi asked the BTS program not only to focus on the availability of the bus fleet. But the organization must also be well organized. Including, how to involve other stakeholders.

Furthermore, Budi hopes that the presence of BTS is expected to provide a sense of security and comfort for the community. So, it can encourage people to want to use public transportation. Because besides being able to avoid congestion, the fare or transportation costs are much cheaper.

"This is an attempt to shift, moving from private vehicles to public transportation if we provide better and more comfortable service", he explained.

If Bogor is completed, the BTS will be developed in other Jabodetabek areas. Therefore, he hopes that the BTS trials or trials in Bogor should be carried out as well as possible.

The choice of the Jabodetabek area is partly due to the large population of more than 33 million with 88 million movements every day. Currently, bus services with a buy the service scheme exist in five cities, namely Palembang, Surakarta, Medan, Yogyakarta, and Denpasar.

"Referring to the medium-term development, that BTS will be developed in other Jabodetabek areas, we hope that what we do in the city of Bogor is done carefully, well and carefully, and involves stakeholders", he said.