The Way For The Elimination Of Transjakarta Corridor One Is Unforgivable Consumption

The Transjakarta corridor 1 line connecting the M-City Block and intersecting with the Lebak Bulus-HI MRT transportation mode is planned to be removed. (ANTARA PHOTO/Dhemas Reviyanto)

The discourse on removing corridor one Transjakarta has received negative responses from various circles. If this happens, observers are worried that this will actually make people use private vehicles and exacerbate congestion in Jakarta.

The Jakarta Provincial Department of Transportation (Dishub) revealed a plan to remove the Transjakarta route that intersects with the MRT, one of which is the Blok M-Kota route. This step was taken so that there is no overlap between public transportation modes," said Head of the Jakarta Provincial Transportation Agency, Syafrin Liputo.

"For example, for MRT Lebak Bulus to the City (if it is already) built, then for corridor one Transjakarta from Blok M to Kota it will be eliminated," said Syafrin.

However, this plan has received a strong reaction from the public. Transportation observer Ki Darmaningtyas said this was not a smart policy amid the government's efforts to move private vehicle users by public transportation.

The MRT Jakarta phase 2 construction project stretches along about 11.8 kilometers from the HI Roundabout to West Ancol. Phase 2 continues the northern corridor of Phase 1 which has been operating since 2019, from Lebak Bulus to the HI Roundabout.

Phase 2 development is a national strategic project based on Presidential Regulation Number 56 of 2018 concerning the Second Amendment to Presidential Regulation Number 3 of 2016 concerning the Acceleration of the Implementation of National Strategy Projects. In addition, the Decree of the Governor of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta Number 1713 of 2019 concerning Amendments to the Decree of the Governor Number 1728 of 2018 concerning Determination of Locations for the Construction of the Mass Rapid Transit of the City HI Roundabout Corridor is the basis for determining lanes and stations in phase 2A.

Citing page kart.co.id, phase 2 consists of two stages, namely phase 2A and phase 2B. Phase 2A consists of seven underground stations (Thamrin, Monas, Harmoni, Sawah Besar, Mangga Besar, Glodok, and Kota) with a total path length of about 5.8 kilometers. While Phase 2B consists of two underground stations (Mangga Dua and Ancol) and one depot at Ancol Marina with a total path length of about six kilometers. Phase 2B is in the feasibility study stage.

The Phase 2 A MRT project is divided into two segments, namely segment one of the HI-Harmoni Roundabout which is targeted for completion in 2027, and the two Harmoni-Kota segment which is targeted for completion in 2029.

According to the Transportation Agency, the Transjakarta route for Blok M-Kota will be removed in 2029, just when the construction of this mass transportation mode has been completed. There are various reasons explained by the Head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, Syafrin, regarding this plan.

First, because the Transjakarta route for Blok M-Kota intersects directly with the MRT outer. Even though the route is removed, the Transjakarta bus stop along the M-Kota Block will not be dismantled because it is integrated with each other.

Another cause of the emergence of the plan to remove Transjakarta corridor 1 is due to the efficiency in the management of Public Service Obligation (PSO) funds. If it is not deleted, according to Syafrin, then the subsidy for public transportation majoring in Blok M-Kota will be doubled because there are Transjakarta and MRT.

The plan to remove Transjakarta on the Blok M-Kota route has received rejection from the public. Although on the route there are two choices of modes of transportation, the MRT and Transjakarta have very different rates very far for one trip.

Transportation observer and Chair of the Strategic Initiative for Transportation (Instran) Ki Darmaningtyas admitted that he was surprised by the statement by the Head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, Syafrin Lupito. According to him, this is clearly the wrong move, if it is not allowed to call it ridiculous.

Darmaningtyas emphasized that Transjakarta customers have different characters from MRT customers, one of which is seen from the socio-economic aspect.

First, from the socio-economic aspect, MRT customers have a higher socio-economic class. So from this socio-economic aspect alone, it is very unrealistic to move TJ customers to MRT," said Darmaningtyas in a statement received by VOI.

Once they are forced to move to the MRT because the TJ Corridor 1 service is abolished, they will move to a motorcycle, and this is clearly an unforgivable chaos.

In terms of tariffs, Darmaningtyas emphasized that MRT's tariff is much more expensive than Transjakarta. MRT with the Lebak Bulus-Bunderan HI route is currently set at a price of Rp. 14,000 while TJ is only Rp. 3,500.

So the way Jakarta Transportation Agency personnel think should not be removing corridor 1 Transjakarta services, but how to move private car users to public transportation, especially MRT.

"Policies that have been discussed for more than 15 years and studied, such as expensive mid-city parking rates, not parking on the road, and expensive fuel prices for private vehicles, the time to implement them," he said.

"Deleting corridor one services is clearly not an intelligent policy, and contradicts the MRT development itself, which has since been discussed to move users of private vehicles, instead of moving other public transport users," Darmaningtyas added.

In 2010, said Darmaningtyas, the discourse on removing Transjakarta corridor one had also been launched. At that time, the construction of the Lebak Bulus-HI MRT was still in discourse.

A number of passengers boarded a Transjakarta bus in Jakarta, Wednesday (11/13/2024). (ANTARA/Asprilla Dwi Adha/foc)

Hearing the plan, Darmaningtyas did not hesitate to protest to the Director General of Train at the Ministry of Transportation, Tundjung Inderawan, and immediately responded that there was no plan to remove the BRT Corridor 1 route because it would complement each other.

"Ironically, now this statement has actually emerged from the Head of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency who has a responsibility to increase the number of public transport users to 60 percent by 2030," he said.

"Deleting the TJ corridor 1 service will clearly reduce the number of public transport users and will increase the number of private vehicle users, especially motorbikes. The contribution of corridor 1 in facilitating the mobility of Jabodetabek residents is quite high every day, it can reach 66,000 people on weekdays. If 50 percent of them return to riding motorbikes, because they are unable to ride the MRT, then it will increase the complicated city of Jakarta," said Darmaningtyas. .