TransJakarta

TransJakarta is a bus rapid transit system in Jakarta, Indonesia. TransJakarta started on January 15, 2004 and currently has 7 corridors (or lines) with 32 new corridors under construction. TransJakarta was designed to provide the citizens of Jakarta a fast public transportation system to help reduce rush hour traffic. The Indonesian Government provided TransJakarta buses with their own private lanes and Transjakarta's ticket prices are subsidized by the state government.

The system is modeled on the successful TransMilenio system in Bogotá, Colombia. Alternative common names include Busway or TJ (pronounced "Tije", "tee-jay").

History and Problems

The first TransJakarta line opened to the public on January 15, 2004. The first two weeks of service were free, while commercial operation started on February 1, 2004.

TransJakarta was built with the objective of providing the citizens of Jakarta with a fast, comfortable, and affordable mass transportation system in mind. To accomplish those objectives, the buses were given lanes restricted to other traffic and separated by concrete blocks on the streets that became part of the busway routes, and the ticket price is subsidized by the state government.

During the first two operational weeks, from January 15, 2004 until January 30, 2004, the service was made free. This free trial would allow the citizen to know better the new transportation system. Then, starting from February 1, 2004, TransJakarta started its commercial operation.

TransJakarta suffered some initial teething problems, as when the roof of one of the buses rammed into a railway tunnel. In addition, many buses had technical issues like broken doors and stop buttons.

In order to promote gender equity, TransJakarta keeps increasing the number of female driver recruits. The projected proportion is 30% from the total of drivers.

* January 15, 2004: Corridor I, Blok M-Jakarta Kota (soft launch)
* February 1, 2004: Corridor I, Blok M-Jakarta Kota (commercial service)
* January 15, 2006: Corridor II, Pulogadung-Harmoni and III, Kalideres-Harmoni opened
* January 27, 2007: Corridor IV, Pulo Gadung-Dukuh Atas, Corridor V, Kp. Melayu-Ancol, Corridor VI, Ragunan-Kuningan, and Corridor VII Kp. Rambutan-Kp. Melayu opened

Bus

Each bus is constructed with passengers' safety in mind. For example the body frame is constructed using Galvanyl (Zn - Fe Alloy), a strong and rust-resistant metal. There are also 8 or 10 glass-shattering hammers pinned at some of the window frames and 3 emergency door for fast evacuation during emergency, there are also 2 fire extinguisher at the front and back of the bus interior.

The colors of TransJakarta's Mercedes-Benz OH and Hino RG air-conditioned buses are red and yellow, with a young Brahminy Kite, which looks very similar to a bald eagle (the picture in the bird' wiki is a picture of an adult bird), grasping a tree branch with 3 snakefruits on it. The buses are using special diesel fuel (a mix between diesel and biodiesel). For Corridor II (bus colors: blue and white) and III (bus colors: yellow and red), the buses are natural CNG fueled Daewoo buses imported from South Korea. Due to various coachbuilders involved and design tweaks applied over time, the exterior and interior appearance, quality, and comfort may slightly vary from bus to bus operating in the same Corridor.

The capacity of each bus is 30 seated and 55 standing passengers, though during rush hours these numbers are often exceeded up to 80 passengers.

The passenger doors are located on the middle right and middle left part of the bus, and are placed higher than normal so that passengers could only board from the designated shelter. The doors employ automated folding mechanisms which can be manually controlled from the driver's console. Because the normal folding doors would not function optimally when the bus is overcrowded, the buses of corridors II and III, use sliding doors in order to accommodate the surge of passengers during rush hours. Protective full-height acrylic glass barriers are installed behind those passenger seats which are close to the sliding door mechanism.

The seats orientation for all buses is facing the aisle of the bus, This design applied to optimize passengers' movement during rush hours. Corridor 1 buses use comfortable cushioned bus seats, the buses from subsequent Corridors are using less cushioned, hence less comfortable, seats.

Each bus is equipped with electronic board and speaker which will announce the name of shelters in 2 languages, Indonesian and English. Each bus is also equipped with bi-directional radio transceiver to allows the driver to give and get updated information regarding traffic jams, road accidents, lost items, etc.

To keep the air fresh, especially during rush hours, starting from January 2005, each bus will be equipped with automatic air freshener dispensers. These dispensers will periodically spray car fragrance.

Shelter

TransJakarta shelter are also different from ordinary bus stops. They are typically located in the median of the road and are reached by elevated bridges. Moreover, the halts in front of Sarinah shopping place and the UN office have lifts.

The shelter itself is mainly composed from aluminum, steel, and glass. Air ventilation is made possible through fins on the aluminum part of the shelter. The shelter's floor is made from tread plate. The doors of the shelter will slide and open automatically whenever a bus arrived. The connecting elevated bridge slope is made with gentle slopes (with some exceptions like the one on Bunderan HI shelter) to accommodate the disabled. The floors of the bridge are tread plates (with some exceptions like the ones in Jelambar dan Bendungan Hilir shelter which are made from concrete).

The opening hours of the shelters are 05:00 – 22:00. If until 22:00 there are still passengers left inside the shelter because of operational technical difficulties, the operating hours will be extended to accommodate them. Shelters become overloaded often because the buses might come late.

Free daily internal bulletins 'Trans Kota' are occasionally available at selected shelters. The contents are usually ranging from common, sport, showbiz, crime, health, various tips and tricks, current consumptive goods infos, TransJakarta news, etc.

At Jalan Gadjah Mada, Central Jakarta, there is the Harmoni Central Busway (HCB) shelter. This enormous shelter is built on top of the Ciliwung River, and it is a transit point between Corridors I, II, and III. This 500 people shelter has 6 doors. Although many trees had to be sacrificed during the construction of TransJakarta, an old banyan tree was not chopped down because considered rich in historical value. However on October 2006, this tree was vandalized by people from a religious group known as Pemuda Persatuan Islam. Their motive was to show that the tree does not possess supernatural qualities as believed by some people.

Ticketing

Passengers would first buy a single trip ticket (in the form of a smart card). Then to enter a shelter, the passenger would need to enter the ticket into the slot on one of the ticket barriers. Finally, the turnstile barrier will let the passenger through.

Starting from November 1, 2004, a prepaid multitrip ticketing system already available. A passenger can buy a special ticket with desired initial value (Rp. 3500 is the minimum initial and the future purchases come in 10 trip units) at Blok M shelter. Instead of inserting the ticket into a barrier's slot, the ticket is placed on top of the sensor which is located on the top of the ticket barrier. The machine will then subtract the balance, display the remaining trip units, and finally let the passenger pass through. Trip Units can be refilled at all of the Corridor I shelters.

The advantage of using this kind of ticket is that a passenger doesn't need to join the queue in front of the ticket machine each time s/he want to use TransJakarta. The disadvantage is that the passenger will not be able to benefit from early morning special fare available on single trip ticket purchase.

Fare

The cost of TransJakarta ticket is Rp. 3,500 (December 2006) per trip. Passengers who change direction or move to another corridor will not need to pay again as long as they do not exit the shelter. Passengers who buy tickets between 05:00 - 07:00 will charged with a lower rate per ticket (Rp. 2000).

There was a plan to raise the ticket price from Rp. 3,500 to Rp. 5,000 at 1Q of 2007. The reasons for the increment are:

*The scope of the route had greatly increased
*As the ridership grown, the subsidy needed has become increasingly larger
*The current rate is barely enough to cover the maintenance and operating cost, resulting in low profit margin
*The current rate caused an unfair competition with existing public transports, which up until now, still needed to support the operation of TransJakarta
*The number of passengers who moved between corridors (doing free transit) is already far exceeding the initial projection and has become a serious financial burden

This plan had been stirring negative reactions, some feel that their right to get a cheap and comfortable transportation will be reduced, there are also people who complained about the lack of other alternatives since some of the alternative public transport routes has been eliminated or rerouted during the operation of TransJakarta.

However, there are also some who support this policy. They hope that price increment, will the reduce the over-abundant number of people who use TransJakarta, hence safety and comfort would be improved. Some alternative public transport drivers also hopes that this price increment will bring back their ex-customers to them.

The plan was postponed until the impact assessment commissioned by the operator and government is finished.

Passengers

The passengers of TransJakarta buses come from different backgrounds; Expatriate executives, employees, peddlers, housewives and their children are among them.

During rush hours, people from the upper or middle classes (one of the main targets of TransJakarta), usually prefer to use private cars or taxis to avoid inconvenience in the overcrowded Transjakarta busses even though it means they would have to bear the traffic jam in the regular roads. (This happens mostly with lower middle class people who are usually ex-users of other less comfortable and/or more expensive commercial buses)

This is contradictive with one of the initial objective of TransJakarta, which is to reduce traffic jam during rush hours by persuading private car owners to use comfortable public transport.

There is a special program for the student groups called "Transjakarta goes to school". The participants of this program will be assigned with a dedicated bus. The target is to train these students to stand in line, be decent, and prefer public transport than personal vehicles.

Line

The line open for the first time is Corridor I along 12,9 km that serves Blok M-Kota.

Corridor I (Red Bus)

Corridor III (Yellow Bus)

Corridor III (Kalideres-Harmoni) started operation on January 15, 2006.

Corridor VI

Corridor VI (Ragunan-Kuningan) started operation on January 27, 2007.

Corridor VII

Corridor VII (Kampung Rambutan-Kampung Melayu) started operation on January 27, 2007.

Future corridors

All new lines will be constructed in 2007 and operational in 2008. Jakarta City Administration is committed to run a total of 15 busway corridors by 2010. These future corridors include:

* Line 8
** Lebak Bulus Terminal - Harmoni Central Busway
** Length (km): 18 km
* Line 9
** Pinang Ranti Terminal - Pluit
** Length (km): 15 km
* Line 10
** Cililitan -Tanjung Priok Terminal
** Length (km): 15 km

ee also

* Transport in Indonesia
* Rail transport in Indonesia

External links

*id icon [http://trans.Jakarta.go.id/ Official website]
*id icon [http://www.suaratransjakarta.org/ Transjakarta Community Site]
*id icon [http://www.petabusway.com/ Transjakarta map]