Transjakarta’s extended hours
The late night operation of the Transjakarta Busway on two of its corridors has undeniably been helpful for people who work late, and we believe that extending operational hours along all of the 10 busway corridors would help ease the acute traffic congestion in the capital.
A city administration official has said that the decision to extend the operational hours at night was based on the increasing number of passengers using the Pinangranti-Pluit corridor (Corridor 9) and the Blok-M-Kota corridor (Corridor I). On both corridors, Transjakarta buses run until 11:30 p.m.
“We will soon operate buses along Corridor 2 [Pulogadung-Harmoni] and Corridor 3 [Kalideres-Harmoni]. As both corridors are connected to each other, it will help the night working people,” Transjakarta Busway head Muhainmad Akbar said this week.
We support the busway’s extended night operations, not only because it will be helpful to people who work late, but because the buses, we believe, will ease traffic congestion.
The late night busway service, if it materializes, would be a similar move to that of state railway operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek, which already operates night trains, will encourage workers to reevaluate their working hours. Many people may prefer to travel at night on more convenient bus services rather than getting trapped in traffic gridlock during rush hour.
The city administration may even need to further focus on traffic congestion by reevaluating its policy on the working hours of both civil servants and private employees. The shift in working hours will help reduce congestion as it will provide opportunities for urban workers to have different working hours.
We believe that consistent night busway operations will not only give people working late more alternatives for transportation, but that it can also help the city overcome traffic problems. Therefore, the city authorities need to integrate this policy with other efforts to ease the burden on the city roads, such as by improving public transportation services in the capital.
And the most important thing is that Transjakarta Busway’s operator has to maintain the quality of its services, including by paying serious attention to the security and safety of passengers, particularly when they are inside the buses or in the busway shelters.
A city administration official has said that the decision to extend the operational hours at night was based on the increasing number of passengers using the Pinangranti-Pluit corridor (Corridor 9) and the Blok-M-Kota corridor (Corridor I). On both corridors, Transjakarta buses run until 11:30 p.m.
“We will soon operate buses along Corridor 2 [Pulogadung-Harmoni] and Corridor 3 [Kalideres-Harmoni]. As both corridors are connected to each other, it will help the night working people,” Transjakarta Busway head Muhainmad Akbar said this week.
We support the busway’s extended night operations, not only because it will be helpful to people who work late, but because the buses, we believe, will ease traffic congestion.
The late night busway service, if it materializes, would be a similar move to that of state railway operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek, which already operates night trains, will encourage workers to reevaluate their working hours. Many people may prefer to travel at night on more convenient bus services rather than getting trapped in traffic gridlock during rush hour.
The city administration may even need to further focus on traffic congestion by reevaluating its policy on the working hours of both civil servants and private employees. The shift in working hours will help reduce congestion as it will provide opportunities for urban workers to have different working hours.
We believe that consistent night busway operations will not only give people working late more alternatives for transportation, but that it can also help the city overcome traffic problems. Therefore, the city authorities need to integrate this policy with other efforts to ease the burden on the city roads, such as by improving public transportation services in the capital.
And the most important thing is that Transjakarta Busway’s operator has to maintain the quality of its services, including by paying serious attention to the security and safety of passengers, particularly when they are inside the buses or in the busway shelters.
The capital city of ASEAN
“Nambahin macet saja [just worsens the already congested traffic],” the abusive words have often and will continue to be heard before and during the May 7-8 ASEAN summit.
Such a complaint, however, is not only about the more severe traffic jams during the regional grouping leaders’ meeting, but more importantly about the indifferent feeling of Jakartans on the summit as they do not see yet the benefit or relevance of the event.
As a good host, however, we Jakartans have the moral responsibility to create a comfortable and friendly atmosphere during the stay of our guests, be they diplomats, government officials, politicians, social workers and journalists. It is true that many of us do not see the urgency of such a costly event in the short term, but foreign affairs and policies are unseparated from other pillars of the state’s life.
It is understandable when many stakeholders of this state complain that the government should give priority to much more pressing domestic issues such as huge unemployment and unsatisfactory economic growth. But we should not forget that our economy also heavily depends on the outside world.
In the meantime, it is not impossible that some guests may take extra security arrangements to ensure the safety of their delegations, especially their leaders. We need to understand their feeling no matter how ridiculous it may be for Indonesia.
We should realize that Jakarta has several times been the target of terror attacks over the past decade. But we also call for an understanding of our guests that the government, including the security forces and the whole of society, do their best for the comfort and safety of our honorable guests.
Since its establishment in 1967 in Bangkok and even since its transformation into an official organization after the signing of the ASEAN Charter in 2007 in Singapore, many Indonesians and citizens of other member countries have perceived that ASEAN is their government’s business and has almost nothing to do with them.
All leaders of the 10-member ASEAN — except Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who has to focus on the general election on Saturday — will regroup on Saturday and Sunday. At the end of their discussion they are expected to issue their accountability report to the public on the direction of the regional bloc for another year ahead.
Many Jakartans perhaps do not realize that their city slowly but consistenly has transformed itself as the capital city of ASEAN such as Brussels for the EU. More countries such as the US and Japan have stationed their ambassadors to ASEAN here. In the past many envoys to Indonesia also served as representatives of their governments to ASEAN. Being a diplomatic capital city of ASEAN does not only mean political prestige but also major economic benefits.
We do hope that ASEAN leaders can achieve concrete results during their meeting to prove to their citizens that their conclusions of their meeting are not just strong on paper.
Be a good host. The positive attitude is expected from all citizens of this city. And we believe our guests will also appreciate our warm hospitality.
Such a complaint, however, is not only about the more severe traffic jams during the regional grouping leaders’ meeting, but more importantly about the indifferent feeling of Jakartans on the summit as they do not see yet the benefit or relevance of the event.
As a good host, however, we Jakartans have the moral responsibility to create a comfortable and friendly atmosphere during the stay of our guests, be they diplomats, government officials, politicians, social workers and journalists. It is true that many of us do not see the urgency of such a costly event in the short term, but foreign affairs and policies are unseparated from other pillars of the state’s life.
It is understandable when many stakeholders of this state complain that the government should give priority to much more pressing domestic issues such as huge unemployment and unsatisfactory economic growth. But we should not forget that our economy also heavily depends on the outside world.
In the meantime, it is not impossible that some guests may take extra security arrangements to ensure the safety of their delegations, especially their leaders. We need to understand their feeling no matter how ridiculous it may be for Indonesia.
We should realize that Jakarta has several times been the target of terror attacks over the past decade. But we also call for an understanding of our guests that the government, including the security forces and the whole of society, do their best for the comfort and safety of our honorable guests.
Since its establishment in 1967 in Bangkok and even since its transformation into an official organization after the signing of the ASEAN Charter in 2007 in Singapore, many Indonesians and citizens of other member countries have perceived that ASEAN is their government’s business and has almost nothing to do with them.
All leaders of the 10-member ASEAN — except Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who has to focus on the general election on Saturday — will regroup on Saturday and Sunday. At the end of their discussion they are expected to issue their accountability report to the public on the direction of the regional bloc for another year ahead.
Many Jakartans perhaps do not realize that their city slowly but consistenly has transformed itself as the capital city of ASEAN such as Brussels for the EU. More countries such as the US and Japan have stationed their ambassadors to ASEAN here. In the past many envoys to Indonesia also served as representatives of their governments to ASEAN. Being a diplomatic capital city of ASEAN does not only mean political prestige but also major economic benefits.
We do hope that ASEAN leaders can achieve concrete results during their meeting to prove to their citizens that their conclusions of their meeting are not just strong on paper.
Be a good host. The positive attitude is expected from all citizens of this city. And we believe our guests will also appreciate our warm hospitality.
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