TransJakarta Says Hundreds of Its Buses Are Not Roadworthy

TransJakarta said on Friday that it is unable to provide the best possible service because more than one third of its 700 buses are unfit for use.

“TransJakarta now has 700 buses, only 450 buses are roadworthy, the rest need to be replaced,” said Antonius Kosasih, a director at the bus operator.

Antonius said that in order to meet public demand and prevent accidents, the company was in a dire need of new buses.

TransJakarta needs at least 1,300 buses to provide optimal service for commuters and to make sure queues are not too long, he said.

“If we want to have 1,300 buses, we need to purchase at least 850 buses within the next two years,” Antonius said, adding this number of buses would be sufficient to serve 12 routes.

He also said the company would prepare detailed specifications to avoid a fiasco like the procurement of Chinese-made buses that were found to not meet quality standards.

“The [quality of the] buses must be of international standard: we want to buy buses whose spare parts are available here,” he said.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Muhammad Akbar said his office was working to procure the needed buses.

“We are in the middle of the process, I hope we can sign the contract in the near future and I am confident we will have 600 news buses by next year,” he said.

[JakartaGlobe]