Tricky situation with public transportation
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia - Pelik transportasi publik
29 August 2023
By: Hendra Wibawa
There is one more solution to reduce traffic jams in Jakarta and its surroundings. Yesterday, on Monday (28/8), a new mass transportation, which is Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi (Jabodebek) Light Rail Transit (LRT), has officially operated.
The operation of Jabodebek LRT is also expected to rescue Jakarta from its concerning level of air pollution. Unfortunately, the LRT is still overshadowed by various challenges. Moreover, its performance is still lacking compared to other modes of transportation that have been constructed before it.
Jabodebek LRT that was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo is said to drag Jakarta out of the list of the top 10 cities with the worst traffic jams in the world. It concerns the people who flock from the suburbs to work in the capital city. There are at least 996,000 vehicles that enter Jakarta every day.
The President said that the LRT as a national product would improve public transportation in Jakarta and its surroundings. The President hopes that the people in Jabodebek would flock to use the LRT that costs Rp32.6 trillion.
Jokowi hopes that Jabodebek LRT will save Jakarta from air pollution and traffic jams as the new mode of transportation can carry 114,000 passengers per day or 41.6 million passengers per year.
Transportation issues in the capital city and its surroundings have always been the focus of the government. Before the LRT, the government has developed other modes of transportation, namely commuter line (KRL), mass rapid transit (MRT), bus rapid transit (BRT), as well as the airport train. There are also bicycle lanes on several road segments in the capital city.
More people are expected to use public transportation and eco-friendly vehicles. Unfortunately, it is not easy. The utilisation of public transportation is said to still be suboptimal.
Moreover, according to Jokowi, the evaluation on the MRT shows that the mode of transportation that is fitted with Japanese technologies is only carrying an average of 80,000 passengers per day, while its capacity is 180,000 passengers per day. From the commencement of its operation in March 2019 to 31 July 2023, Jakarta MRT could only carry 79.33 million passengers.
A similar problem is faced by PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI), the operator of KRL. Last year, KRL carried 217.95 million passengers with an average of 600,000 passengers per day, but its target is 2 million passengers per day. This year, KCI’s fleet has the potential to be lacking as they were forbidden from importing used commuter line trains from Japan.
In 2020, TransJakarta carried 126.4 million passengers, but it was not achieved without a hitch. The BRT received an additional fleet of electric buses as an effort to transition to battery-based electric vehicles.
Regarding the phenomenon, Central Indonesia Transportation Society (MTI) Chairperson Tory Damantoro said that the government needed to implement a push policy along the LRT’s routes, such as an expensive parking tariff at all offices along the LRT’s routes.
It is important to encourage employees who work around the LRT’s routes to use public transportation.
Besides a push policy, Tory emphasised that sidewalks and bicycle lanes along the LRT’s corridors, especially along the Cawang-Dukuh Atas corridor, needed to be improved to provide more space for pedestrians and bicycle users.
To reduce public transportation ticket prices, he urged the government to implement electronic road pricing (ERP). “ERP will be used to subsidise the LRT and other public transportation,” Tory said.
An academician from the Civil Engineering Study Programme of Unika Soegijapranata, Djoko Setijowarno, highlighted that the public transportation policies in Greater Jakarta have not improved.
The Jabodetabek Urban Transportation Policy Integration Project Phase 2 (JUTPI-2) data shows that the total movements in Greater Jakarta in 2018 reached 88.2 million trips per day with 68.71% of the trips coming from the suburbs of Greater Jakarta.
“The policies implemented are not synchronised, and they will also not be implemented for long,” Djoko said.
He is also highlighting that the important policies of ERP have never been implemented in Jakarta.
Seeing the traffic jams and the level of air pollution in Jakarta and its surroundings, State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir promises that he will prioritise the development of public transportation. Moreover, Jakarta is one of the most populated cities in the world.
“We have to improve the MRT, the LRT, and other related supporting facilities,” he stated.
On the other hand, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi is guaranteeing the safety and the security aspects of Jabodebek LRT, even though it faced issues regarding its system synchronisation and its long span design.
