TRANSJAKARTA - JAKARTA. City-owned bus operator Transjakarta lost Rp 8 billion (US$ 555,460) in potential revenue mainly because of road closures and diversions in some areas in the city due to the deadly postelection riots in Central and West Jakarta on May 21 and 22.
Transjakarta president director Agung Wicaksono said on Tuesday that the company experienced a steep decline in passenger numbers from May 21 to 24.
“The lost potential revenue because of the decrease in the number of customers was around Rp 8 billion,” he said during a media briefing in Cikini, Central Jakarta.
The riots that claimed eight lives and injured hundreds other caused the authorities to close some road sections in Central Jakarta, namely on Jl. MH Thamrin, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara and Jl. Majapahit in the vicinity of the Presidential Palace and the Constitutional Court building, and Jl. Imam Bonjol where the General Elections Commission (KPU) is located. Traffic around the House of Representatives complex was also rerouted.
Transjakarta’s operational and technical director Daud Joseph said that the company served around 800,000 passengers per day. However, on May 21, which was the first day of the elections protest, the number decreased to 720,000 passengers. It went down to 524,554 passengers the next day.
The number climbed to 618,062 on May 23 and 681,554 on May 24.
“The number of lost customers equals the number of passengers on a normal day. We lost 670,000 passengers [during the incident,” Joseph said.
He went on to say that passenger numbers went back to normal on Monday.
In addition to lost potential revenue, several Transjakarta bus stations were damaged following the riots.
