Transjakarta wants to open five new routes every month

TRANSJAKARTA - JAKARTA. In a bid to reach the target of 1 million passengers per day, PT Transjakarta is planning to add five new bus routes in each of the upcoming months.

Currently, an estimated 800,000 people use the Transjakarta service per day, and Transjakarta director of operations Daud Joseph told Antara news agency on Tuesday that the city-owned company was “on track to reach 900,000 passengers”.

"We are willing to do whatever it takes to reach 900,000 passengers within the next month or two. Once we reach 900,000 we’re just a step away from 1 million," Daud said.

Daud added that, aside from new routes, new, smaller buses would be added from July to October, increasing their number from 904 currently in operation to 1,441.

"With [new bus routes and more buses in operation] the number of passengers will increase. There will be 93 new routes, in line with the [Jakarta] Transportation Agency's decree," Daud said.

The integration of the MRT and light rapid transit (LRT) into the city's transportation system had helped Transjakarta get closer to the 1 million target.

"Before the MRT was around, there were only 700,000 [bus] passengers, now, after integrating with the MRT, there are 800,000 passengers [per day]," Daud explained.

With the LRT, there were around 50 integrated Transjakarta buses, and the management was planning to add one or two more integrated routes in July, Daud added.