Jakarta capital city government’s policy in performing sterilization on Transjakarta bus lanes has seemingly generated favorable results. It is, at least, seen from the results of the analysis and evaluation by Jakarta Police over the past one week. The sterilization is considered effective in improving Transjakarta bus services, indicated by the increase in the number of passengers reaching an average of 18 percent and the faster headway by 2-5 minutes per bus than the previous of 5-10 minutes; thus reducing the amass of passengers. In addition, the compliance level of road users of both public and private motor vehicles also increases.
The sterilization, conducted by the city government along with Jakarta Police during rush hours, is scheduled from 2 August to 31 December 2010 in four Transjakarta corridors; namely Corridor I (Blok M-Kota), Corridor III (Kalideres-Harmoni), Corridor V (Kampungmelayu-Ancol) and Corridor VI (Ragunan-Dukuhatas).
Another indication of the service improvement can be seen from the high number of violations taking place on the Transjakarta lanes since last week, with 5,889 tickets for illegally breaching the lanes. The details are; 146 violations in Corridor I, 1,213 violations in Corridor III, 2,307 violations in Corridor V, and 2,233 violations in corridor VI. The most violations were recorded committed by motorcycles, with 4,946 units, followed by public transports; 547 units, four-wheeled private vehicles; 217 units and 89 units of freight carriers.
There was no traffic accident recorded during the sterilization. This reflects the decline in accidents in the four corridors. In addition, the analysis also has also seen the increased use of `park and ride` by the Transjakarta service users.
The time of sterilization is carried out in two shifts; from 6 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm, by deploying as many as 486 personnel from 109 personnel from the Police, 136 personnel from the Jakarta Transportation Agency, 32 personnel from Jakarta Public Order Police Squad (Satpol PP), 31 personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI),100 personnel from Transjakarta management body, and 60 personnel from Jakarta Parking Unit.
Jakarta Capital City Governor Fauzi Bowo asserted, based on these indicators, the Transjakarta sterilization during rush hours is considered very effective. In addition, it turned out that Jakarta residents are welcoming the policy, indicated by the 18 percent increase in the number of passengers.
"I even target for 25 percent, rather than 18 percent, because I want to see more people using Transjakarta bus services. In order to achieve the target, we will also accelerate the availability of buses in the corridors that require a lot of the bus fleet," said Fauzi Bowo at City Hall, Monday (8/9). "(To meet the target) the number of police personnel should also be increased; likewise with Satpol PP personnel," he added.
He also called on all road users to further improve compliance in road traffic, particularly on roads that have Transjakarta lanes and U-turns; in order to improve comfort and security of road users with the decreased number of accidents, the reduced level of danger on roads, the shortened headway of Transjakarta bus, and the reduced occurrence of congestion.
Moreover, he explained, Jakarta would make adjustments to contracts with the Transjakarta bus operators in all corridors. The contents of the contract will require the operators to provide more fleet to serve the corridors considered in need of a lot of bus fleets.
The city government also plans to close u-turns located along the four Transjakarta corridors; in order to avoid congestion due to other vehicles crossing the bus lanes. "We will limit the number of U-turns potential to ruin the travel speed and accuracy of Transjakarta buses," he continued.
Meanwhile, Jakarta Administration Assistant for Development and Environment, Muhammad Tauchid Tjakra Amidjaja stated that the sterilization had been proven effective, so it would be applied on the entire corridors next year. Therefore, Jakarta government will make improvements in Trasjakarta infrastructure, one of which is the repair on the bus separators. "We will also carry out the rearrangement of the time of traffic lights in Transjakarta corridors," said Tauchid.
He disclosed, based on the recommendation of the Integrated Infrastructure Team for repairs, the improvement of Transjakarta infrastructure that must be immediately realized includes: the installation of lane separators on Jl Daan Mogot- from Tangerang to Pesing flyover, on Jl Revoli; and the thickening of the red marker of the lanes of Senen-Rivoli, Kampung Melayu-Jatinegara, and Grogol – Citraland routes.
In the meantime, Transjakarta BLU Head Daryati Asrining Rini revealed, during the lane sterilization, the number of passengers increased by an average of 18.26 percent. Prior to the sterilization on July 27, the total number of passengers was 148, 097 people; comprising 69,578 passengers in Corridor I, 28,975 in Corridor III, 25,134 in Corridor V, and 24,410 passengers in Corridor VI.
After the sterilization, on Friday (August 6), it was recorded the total number of passengers reaching 174,471 people or an average increase of 18.26 percent. The details are; in Corridor I (81,437 passengers, up by 17.04%), Corridor III (33,295 passengers, up by 14.91%), Corridor V (30,975 passengers, up by 23.24%), and Corridor VI (28,764 passengers, up by 17,84%). "The bus headway is also shorter, 2-5 minutes per bus; from the previous of 5-10 minutes," said Rini.