Transjakarta Driver Morning Call At 03.00 WIB, KNKT: Is It Useful Or Not?

Officers try to evacuate a TransJakarta bus that crashed into a separator on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman, Jakarta, Friday (3/12/2021)/ Antara

JAKARTA - The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has suggested that the management of PT Transportation Jakarta (Transjakarta) cancel the morning rally at 03.00 WIB for drivers of the first shift in order to minimize fatigue.

Head of KNKT Soerjanto Tjahjono explained that drivers are required to hold an apple at 03.00 WIB which can take 15 to 30 minutes before the driver starts work.

"The driver who enters the first shift must have an apple at 3 am. This is a special treatment. Isn't it useful, if it is useful, do it because this apple can take a quarter of an hour," said Soerjanto during a FGD discussion held by the Jakarta City Transportation Council virtually in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Wednesday, February 9.

According to him, if the apple is not really needed, the driver can use the time to rest.

Especially if the driver lives far from the bus departure terminal, so he has to wake up early.

Drivers who get the first shift have the potential to experience fatigue and lack of concentration if they don't get good quality rest. Generally, the time for deep sleep for humans ranges from 23.00 to 04.00 WIB.

"If we don't experience deep sleep between these times, we wake up lacking the hormone melatonin, so that our fitness is not perfect, the quality of rest is reduced. That needs special attention," said Soerjanto.

From the results of a thorough investigation of Transjakarta operations, the KNKT found that the total working time of drivers also exceeded the maximum working hours.

However, TransJakarta has started to enforce driver limit hours together with operator partners.

The Jakarta City Transportation Council (DTKJ) recorded the number of accidents involving passengers by TransJakarta buses reaching 508 incidents throughout 2021.

One of the factors of accidents that often occurs is fatigue and negligence of the driver because they do not have time to rest, and during work there is no resting place at the end of the departure terminal.