Busway dan jalan-jalan maut

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo needs to remember that in a democratic society leaders are required to accommodate the aspirations and needs of the general public who have entrusted themselves to be led by for a certain period of time.
At the same time, a leader must be able to keep campaign promises -- in the case of the governor, the promise to improve traffic conditions.
But we also want to remind the directly elected governor that it will be dangerous for the people themselves when the leader changes or softens a decision because of public outcry. It often happens the public criticism is later proven wrong and the leader was right in the first place.
After his inauguration as the successor of Sutiyoso in October last year, Fauzi looked very firm in his belief that he would go ahead with Sutiyoso's legacy, the controversial busway program. He strongly believed at that time that by making various improvements the busway system would ease the grievous traffic congestion in Jakarta.
The Jakarta governor is luckier than any other governor in Indonesia, at least in terms of budget. Jakarta's budget is so big that sometimes the local administration has a headache spending all the money while governors elsewhere complain about budget shortfalls.
Back to our subject. Let us look at the report in the Friday Jakarta Post and the announcement of the Jakarta Police Traffic Management Center (TMC) the same day. The two reports point to a risk for the governor in terms of leadership credibility because the city's traffic infrastructure isn't improving and the administration isn't doing anything about it.
This newspaper quoted the governor's own staff as complaining that the number of busway passengers had steadily been decreasing since the time the governor opened up certain busway routes to private vehicles late last year following public outcry.
The governor may have confused motorists making them think the special busway lanes were open to all.
"Ideally, commuters need only 40 to 50 minutes to travel from Ragunan (in South Jakarta) to Dukuh Atas (in Central Jakarta), but it can take 80 minutes in practice because of those other vehicles also using busway lane," according to Udar Priastono, the City transportation agency deputy head, as quoted by this newspaper.
Meanwhile, according to the TMC as reported by detik.com on Friday, there are 120 severely damaged roads in Jakarta.
There are 53 deep potholes in South Jakarta, such as in Ciputat, Pasar Minggu, Mampang, Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Pattimura and Jl. Dharmawangsa.
Damaged roads can be found in at least 24 areas of East Jakarta, including Jl. M.T. Haryono, Otista, Jl. Ngurah Rai, Condet and Kampung Melayu. There are no fewer than 18 damaged roads in North Jakarta, including Jl. Yos Sudarso, Pluit and Cilincing. In Central Jakarta there are eight damaged roads, including Jl. Sudirman, while in West Jakarta there are at least 17 damaged roads.
We call on the governor to remain firm in his support for the busway system and go ahead with his original plans, not just because the service has helped thousands of commuters every day in Jakarta, but also because the project has cost the public and local authorities dearly. It is true the governor must make significant improvements; but it is also true the governor's own leadership is at stake if he backs down on busway programs because of public pressure.
On the damaged roads, many Jakartans were angry when City officials blamed rain and financial problems. It is true that heavy rain over the past few weeks has hurt roads. But Jakartans also know that many roads in Jakarta were in poor condition long before the rainy season.
City streets have been in bad shape for years, the number of potholes is increasing and city authorities aren't paying serious attention to repair efforts.
There are many examples of shoddy road maintenance. It is hard to deny that corruption plays an important role in such projects.
Let the expert handles it! That was Fauzi's central campaign theme last year. Now the governor has less time to prove it. [Jakarta Post - Editorial: Busway and deadly roads]

30ribu orang urung pakai busway

Dinas Perhubungan DKI Jakarta menyatakan jumlah penumpang bus Transjakarta 180ribu orang per hari, turun 30ribu dari sebelumnya 210ribu penumpang.

Wakil Gubernur Prijanto mengatakan faktor utama penurunan jumlah penumpang disebabkan waktu tempuh bus mencapai 40–50 menit. Masyarakat kini lebih memilih menggunakan kendaraan pribadi ”Lama jarak tempuh tersebut karena banyak kendaraan pribadi masuk jalur busway,” ujarnya kemarin.

Waktu kedatangan antara bus satu dan yang lainnya terlalu lama, berimbas pada penumpukan penumpang. Kenyamanan menjadi terganggu. Idealnya jarak antara kedatangan kurang dari lima menit. Prijanto mendesak pihak-pihak terkait segera berbenah, terutama koridor I, II, dan III. Jika perlu, menambah armada. ”Bus di koridor lain dikonsentrasikan di ketiga koridor tersebut". Bukan mengabaikan pelayanan di koridor lain, namun agar ketiga koridor itu terbenahi.

Wakil Kepala Dinas Perhubungan Pemprov DKI Jakarta Udar Pristono mengatakan, tanpa hambatan waktu tempuh koridor VI (Dukuh Atas–Ragunan) kurang lebih 40 menit, namun karena banyak yang menerobos jalur busway, menjadi 80–90 menit. Dijelaskan, Pemprov sudah menerapkan larangan kendaraan menggunakan jalur bus khusus ini. ”Kami juga akan meminta aparat kepolisian untuk membantu. Namun untuk koridor VIII, IX, dan X memang boleh digunakan kendaraan lain selama belum beroperasi."

Manajer Operasional Badan Layanan Umum (BLU) Transjakarta Rene Nunumete mengakui kerugian mencapai Rp70 juta per hari. Sekitar 20 ribu penumpang tidak lagi menggunakan moda transportasi ini. Akibat berkurangnya penumpang, dengan harga tiket bus Rp 3.500, Badan Layanan rugi Rp 70 juta per hari.

Peralihan penumpang tersebut karena jalur khusus dimasuki kendaraan pribadi pada jam-jam sibuk. Masuknya mobil pribadi ke busway membuat waktu tempuh menjadi lebih lama. Pihaknya sudah meminta bantuan Polda Metro Jaya untuk mencabut kebijakan buka-tutup jalur busway untuk kendaraan pribadi.

Untuk mengatasinya juga akan diterapkan sistem contra-flow, yakni menggunakan jalur bus dengan arah berlawanan. Ini untuk menghindari kendaraan pribadi masuk ke jalur tersebut.

Sistem akan diterapkan mulai pekan depan di jalur Pejaten-Mampang Prapatan dan Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan. Saat ini sedang dikoordinasikan dengan pihak kepolisian dan Dinas Perhubungan agar jalur tersebut terjaga, agar tidak terjadi tumbukan dengan kendaraan pribadi dari arah berlawanan yang masuk ke jalur Transjakarta. Ditambahkan, sistem serupa telah diuji coba di sejumlah titik, di antaranya di koridor IV untuk Jalan Matraman dan Jalan Tambak serta koridor III, di Jalan Cideng hingga Biak.

Sekretaris Komisi B DPRD DKI Jakarta Nurmansjah Lubis menilai, selama ini Pemprov tidak tegas menerapkan aturan yang melarang penggunaan jalur busway oleh kendaraan lain. Seharusnya dilakukan tindakan tegas ”termasuk mobil pejabat tinggi. Kalau tidak berani, ya sudah jangan menjadikan busway sebagai jalur khusus,” kata politikus PKS ini.

Soal sistem contra-flow, pengamat transportasi Dharmaningtyas mengemukakan, harus dilakukan sosialisasi dalam skala masif lebih dulu. Pengamat transportasi Tory Darmantoro mengatakan perlu sosialisasi yang intensif. "Sistem ini bisa digunakan sebagai alternatif," katanya.

Namun, yang lebih berdampak signifikan, menurutnya, adalah keberanian pemerintah mengambil kebijakan bahwa busway terlarang untuk kendaraan pribadi. Menurut Dharmaningtyas, larangan kendaraan pribadi masuk busway adalah cara ideal. [dari berbagai sumber]