Construction for three more Busway corridors are well on their way. On some spots the construction of Busway stops is nearing completion. The corridors will add the existing Busway corridors to a total of ten. However four years on, TransJakarta Busway is yet to show results in easing the traffic congestion in Jakarta.
According to a statistic published by Central Statistics Bureau (BPS) in 2007, there are 490,015 new registrations issued by the city of Jakarta with numbers rising each year. The statistics also shows that there are 7,967,498 private vehicles and public transportations in Jakarta. The figure can reach up to 11million if including non-Jakarta, Corps Diplomatic, Police and TNI vehicles commuting in Jakarta. With the existing growth rate of vehicles it is estimated that the number of vehicles will double in 2020.
From the statistics, it is clear that Busway have yet to serve its initial purpose of easing the traffic congestion and reducing the number of vehicles in Jakarta. Andra Martin, an Architect and Urban Planning Expert is skeptical that Busway today can dissuade people to stop driving cars and take public transportation. “People using Busway today are mostly people that have already been using public transportation in the first place” said Martin. The reasons for people continuing to use private vehicles are mainly comfort and their homes are not passed by one of the Busway corridors.
According to a survey conducted by TransJakarta itself, over 88.86% respondents feel that Busway bus halt facilities are inadequate. More than 70% of the respondents are dissatisfied with the Busway corridor services. 56.76% are not happy with the Busway drivers.
Dewi Suci, a daily Busway user said during rush hours, riding a Busway can be quite unpleasant. “Waiting on a small and crowded stop is unbearable” she said “especially transferring to different corridors like in Harmoni and Dukuh Atas”. She pointed out that the bus’s frequency should be increased during rush hours. Many passengers in some stops cannot get in because the bus is overcrowded. On some occasions, Dewi even get off the Busway stop and take the regular busses instead.
In cases like Dewi, who commutes from Rawamangun to her office in Sudirman, Busway does little to reduce the commuting time. Dewi for example, spends around one and a half hour one way. Half of that time is spent at the point of transfer in Dukuh Atas, wrestling with other passengers to get inside the bus. The commuting time spent is worsened by vehicles crossing the sterilized Busway lanes. The condition is regularly observed in corridor 2 (Pulogadung – Harmoni), 3 (Kali Deres – Harmoni) and 4 (Pulogadung – Dukuh Atas).
It is evident that the seven already operational corridors and the three corridors that are under construction causes even more congestion. Gunawan Tjahjono, a Professor in Architecture and Urban Planning from Universitas Indonesia said that Jakarta, which is 661 sq km in size, is only served by 41 sq km of road. When taken into account adjoining cities (Tanggerang, Bekasi, Depok and Bogor) the ratio is extremely small. The development of Busway lanes is exploiting the existing streets by dedicating one of its lanes specifically for Busway. Jalan Gatot Subroto for example is reduced from a three lane to a two lane street, as TransJakarta constructs corridor 9 serving Pinang Ranti – Pluit.
Similar situation can be found on Artery Pondok Indah and Jalan Ahmad Yani. A driver we spoke to expresses her frustration. She claims that it took her one hour to get from Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) to WTC building, approximately only three kilometers away.
A traffic controller stationed in front of Plaza Semanggi confirms the worsening traffic congestion along Gatot Subroto. He adds that traffic even occurs later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon. On some days, gridlock can occur as early as 2 pm in the afternoon.
Tjahjono said that the current Busway armada can never cater the greater Jakarta area of 20 million residents. According to a TransJakarta statistics, all seven corridors of Busway can only serve up to 190 thousand passengers in a single day. The figure shows that Busway is catering only less than 1% of the Greater Jakarta population.
Tjahjono said that even without taking account of daily commuters from adjoining cities, Busway is over its capacity. One solution that the Urban Planning Expert suggested is to maximize the existing transportation platform, the train. Trains are able to carry more than 1500 passengers in one trip. Existing railways already gives people from Serpong, Tanggerang, Bekasi, Cikampek, Depok and Bogor access to Jakarta.
Tjahjono feels the city must increase the safety, security, comfort and frequency of existing trains. Trains today run on average once every hour. Cities with the same population as Jakarta have trains and subways that run to as much as five times an hour. In order for the city to effectively reduce the number of vehicles, Busway must be integrated with trains and other modes of transportation. However today there are only 2 points of transfer, which are Manggarai and Senen Train Stations. Tjahjono said point of transfer from Busway to other mode of transportation should be made whenever possible.
Other modes of transportations that also have to be integrated are private vehicles. Martin said that today there is only one space where people can park their cars and take Busway, which is at Ragunan. In Bogota, where TransJakarta is modeled after, this practice is already common place and indeed reduces the number of vehicles and commuting time.
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