ASEM-TMM DISCUSSES CONCRETE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 27 (Antara) - Indonesia, which is hosting the 4th Asia Europe Meeting-Transport Ministers Meeting (ASEM-TMM) in Bali, plans to utilize the forum to concretize its ongoing cooperation projects and to offer new ones to its partner countries in the transportation sector.         As many as 12 projects were offered to investors during the bilateral meetings with representatives from nine countries, including Japan, China, Poland, Hungary, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.         On the first .day of the ASEM-TMM forum, Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi was busy holding bilateral meetings with representatives of those countries.         The first bilateral meeting was held with the British Consultants to discuss cooperation of ships guide in the Malacca Strait. The British Consultants welcomed the idea of collaboration in vessel guides with European, Chinese, or Japanese.        "During the first discussion, I proposed to a team from Britain to create a collaboration with ships guide owned by Europe, China, and Japan, and they expressed their ability to do so," he noted.         Indonesia viewed the collaboration with various transportation stakeholders on the ship guide in the Malacca Strait as an initial step to influence and establish good relationships with shipping operators.

TRANSPORTATION MODES BEING READIED FOR LEBARAN

 

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 17 (Antara) - The Transportation Ministry has prepared land, sea and air transportation modes to deal with the exodus of post-fasting month of Eid-Al-Fitr or Lebaran travelers.            Some 45 thousand buses, 447 trains with 1,400 carriages, 140 ships and 529 airplanes will be operated to transport millions of Lebaran revelers.         "We will evaluate all transportation modes to decide which modes can be operated and which cannot in an effort to provide a convenient passage for passengers," Transportation Minister Jonan said in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan on Friday.         The minister was making an observation tour of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, to see the readiness of the Trisakti Seaport and Syamsudin Noor Airport in South Kalimantan.         Minister Jonan said four modes of air, land, sea and railway transportation systems had been readied three months ago. However, some of them are still under examination.

GOVT CHECKS VEHICLES FOR LEBARAN TRANSPORTATION

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 14 (Antara)  - The government is conducting checks to determine the condition of vehicles that will be used to transport post-fasting Ied Fitr or Lebaran travelers who will be headed for their hometowns to celebrate the Muslim holiday festivities.         The Transportation Ministry is examining means of transport to be used for travel by air, land and sea to ensure the safety and security of homebound travelers, popularly known as pemudik. Such travels will start early next month.          "All modes are being checked. Physical examination of vehicles will be carried out till  June 24, 2016. Checks are not being carried out randomly; instead vehicles are being checked one-by-one. Vehicles found not roadworthy will not be allowed to operate during the Lebaran transportation season," Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said after a cabinet plenary session on the 2016 Revised State Budget (APBNP 2016) and Reports on Iid Fitr Preparations, held at the Presidential Palace last week.          Ignasius Jonan said this year the Ministry of Transportation will check 1,200-1,400 buses, locomotives, passenger trains, airplanes and ships.

GOVT TO LOWER TRANPORTATION FARES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 30 (Antara) - The government is likely to lower public transportation fares by about three percent following a cut in the prices of Premium gasoline, diesel oil and high octane fuels such as Pertamax, Pertamina Dex and Pertalite.          On Tuesday, Pertamina decided to slash the prices of Pertamax, Pertamina Dex and Pertalite with effect from March 30, 2016 while the government decided on Wednesday to cut the prices of Premium and diesel oil with effect from April 1, 2016.          Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said on Wednesday that his ministry will write to the regional governments asking them to lower transportation fares following the reduction in fuel oil prices.          Jonan said the cut in transportation fares could be three percent, depending on the type of fuels they consume. This will cover ferry services, trains, inter-city or inter-provincial buses and city transportation vehicles.          "We will formulate this soon and it will be regulated through a ministerial decree," Minister Jonan said after attending a limited cabinet meeting on adjustment of fuel oil prices in line with a decline in the world crude price.

DEADLY ACCIDENT PROMPTS CALLS FOR BETTER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 8 (Antara) - The commuter train-Metromini bus collision at North Jakarta's Muara Angke railway crossing that killed 17 people, Sunday, prompted authorities to take steps to put in order the operations of public vehicles in the capital city.          Though not all, yet on an average, drivers of Jakarta's public transportation vehicles --- such as "angkot" and "mikrolet" (both minivans), buses, including Metromini buses --- are notorious for their recklessness.      Luckily, apart from trains, Jakarta's residents can still avail relatively convenient public transportation services in the form of taxis and the TransJakarta Busway transportation services. However, passengers have to pay relatively higher fares for these services.          Traffic accidents in the capital city, particularly at railway crossings, have repeatedly occurred, and Sunday's accident was not the first of its kind.          However, the Muara Angke collision involving an electric commuter train and a Metromini bus appears to have raised awareness among the authorities to streamline the operations of public vehicles in order to protect the safety of passengers and ensure their convenience.          President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has promptly ordered his minister to take the necessary steps to prevent the recurrence of accidents involving means of public transportation at railway crossings.

INDONESIA NEEDS TO IMPROVE ITS TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 26 (Antara) - Indonesia, a country of over 240 million people with over 17 thousand islands, needs to improve its land transportation system to ensure a dynamic flow of passengers and goods in the country.          The dynamic demographic growth, rapid urbanization, regional gaps and rising energy consumption are factors that pose challenges on one side but also offer opportunities on the other.          This complexity, however, has caused a large gap between the available means of transportation and increasing movement of passengers and goods.          The Ministry of Transportation noted that the gap between capacity and load movement was mainly to be attributed to increasing economic growth and rising purchasing power of the people.          On the one hand, the situation will lead to complexity when it comes to ensuring availability of transportation for vast sections of population, but on the other, it will also open up new investment opportunities, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan said.          "So, this will necessitate the development of a transportation system that can be integrated with the economy, especially on Java Island," Minister EE Moiangindaan said in press statement on Tuesday.

RI TO CUT TRANSPORTATION ACCIDENTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 21 (ANTARA) - The government is launching a program aimed at cutting down by half in the next ten years the number of transportation accidents which at present reach 30,000 which take the  lives of about 60,000 people annually.          The rate of accidents and accident-related deaths in Indonesia, a country with a population of about 237.6 million, is high partly because of the rapid increase in the number of vehicle production, inappropriate road infrastructure, the lack of vehicle worthiness and insufficient awareness of safety procedures.          To improve the country's transportation conditions, the government lunched the program and expected to achieve the goal in ten years. "The target will be achieved by implementing a national general plan for traffic safety (RUNK LLAJ) which will involve relevant parties. The implementation of its action plan will need 10 years or a decade," Director of Land Transportation Safety at the Transportation Ministry Hotma Simanjutak said recently.          The ten-year implementation of the program is thus dubbed as a safety decade, and on Monday Vice President Boediono launched the Road Safety Decade 2011-2020, hoping it could keep down the number of road accidents in the country.          Indonesia is among the countries having the high number of road accidents, he said during the launch of the campaign at the vice presidential office here. The plan is in line with the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 which is a follow-up to UN Resolution No. 64/255 dated March 2, 2010.           Vice President Boediono said that every year nearly 60 thousand people were killed in road accidents in the country. Therefore, the number of deaths and injuries in road accidents must be kept down, he said.          "Of course, the main target of the campaign is to lower the number of fatalities," he said. To make thing worse, the road accidents mostly befell those of productive age who were supposed to contribute to the country's progress, he said.          "In my view, the problem is so serious that we must handle it seriously. The causes of road accidents vary. They can be the poor condition of roads, motorcycles and cars which are not roadworthy. But it seems that the biggest cause is human factor," he said.          It was the road users themselves who would eventually determine road safety and thus, it was very imperative to control motorists' behavior, he said.          Data from the National Police show 31,186 people were killed in road accidents in the country last year, meaning that an average of 84 people per day or 3-4 people per hour were killed in road accidents.          "Ironically, most of the road accidents involved motorcyclists and 67 percent of them were in their productive age. State losses from the road accidents are projected to reach 2.9-3.1 percent of the gross domestic product, an equivalent of Rp205-220 trillion," Hotma Simanjutak said.          The higher rate of accidents involving motorcyclists is also attributable to the higher growth of motor vehicle production which reached more than 8 million units as compared to that of car production which was about 800 thousand per annum.          Industry Minister MS Hidayat said the production of cars and motorcycles this year was estimated at 800 thousands and 8 million respectively.          Hidayat said that unluckily, the increase in the vehicle production was not followed by improvement of road infrastructure which eventually boosts the rate of road accidents. After all, he said it was impossible to reduce the number of vehicle production.          "It is impossible to cut down the number of production. Even, it is predicted that car production would reach one million units in 2013 and motor vehicles 10 million units. So, the only way is to increase our exports and distribution to cities outside the crowded Java," the industry minister said.          Hidayat also responded to the vice president's request that arrangement must also be made with regard to vehicle production. He said that the vice president wanted an arrangement where vehicle distribution was not concentrated in Jakarta and its satellite towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bakasi.          According to Vice President Boediono, the number of traffic accidents in Indonesia must be reduced and for this purpose, a comprehensive short and long term arrangement is needed. He said that clear traffic signs and regulations were needed owning to the fact that public spaces were limited.          "No matter what conditions we are facing, we have to have an arrangement regarding the limited public spaces in order to serve  public interest," the vice president said.          And what all the public need is awareness of the importance of  observing traffic safety regulations. He said that the government had issued a number of regulations related to traffic safety but the regulations were not enough without motorists' awareness about traffic safety.          Therefore, the vice president said he highly supported the action plan for traffic safety which would focus on promoting motorists' awareness of traffic safety.          "I hope for concrete steps to eventually reduce  the risk of traffic accidents caused by human error," he said. ***4*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/a014) 21-06-2011 13:40:

TRANSPORT FARES BEGIN TO DROP IN VAROUS REGIONS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 16 (ANTARA) - In response to the government's decision on Thursday to lower the prices of premium gasoline and diesel oil for the third time in less than two months, transport fares in various parts of the country began declining on Friday.

        Economy class commuter trains serving routes within Jakarta and its satellite towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) lowered their tariffs by eight to 20 percent on Friday.

        Spokesman of railway company PT KA for region I operation, Ahmad Sujadi, said PT KA had decided to lower its economy class train fares, including fares for air-conditioned (AC) ones, for passengers commuting the Jabodetabek routes.

        The fares for the Jakarta-Bogor route for example, were lowered by 20 percent from Rp2,500 to Rp2000 per passengers for non-AC economy class, while those for the Jakarta-Depok and Jakarta Bogor routes were cut by 8 percent from Rp6,000 to Rp5,500.

        Air-conditioned economy class train fares for the Jakarta - Bekasi and Jakarta - Serpong (Tangerang) were lowered by 8 percent from Rp5,000 to 4,500 percent.

        Sujadi said that fares for executive class remained unchanged, however.

        In the meantime, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday toured a number of places in Jakarta to inspect the impacts of cuts in the fuel prices which had begun effective on Thursday. The price of premium gasoline was cut from Rp5,000 to Rp4,500 per liter and that of diesel oil from Rp4,800 to Rp4,500 per liter.

        The first location inspected by Yudhoyono was the Kota railway station where the president found that the ticket price of Tegal Arum train for Tegal direction in Central Java, had been lowered from Rp16,000 to Rp15,000.

        After inspecting a number of gasoline refilling stations, the head of state also inspected the Pulogadung intercity bus terminal in East Jakarta to look at the impact of the fuel oil price cuts.

        He said that a number of public transport vehicles had begun to lower their rates following the cuts. "I hope this condition can be improved further in order to increase the people's purchasing power," the president said.

        The president said he had contacted a number of regional administration heads to ask about the lowering of transport fares after the fuel oil prices were cut. "This morning, I called on the mayor of Padang to cut transport fares there. I also did the same thing with Bogor's mayor. I checked with the Land Transport Owners Organization (Organda), and I found that it has lowered its tariffs," the president said.

        He said the fare for public transportation in Bogor, West Java, had been lowered from Rp2,500 to Rp2,000 per passenger. The train tariff at the Kota railway station had been cut by 8 percent as well but the tariff for electric trains had not yet been lowered on Thursday.

        According to Yudhoyono, he had also checked transport fares at the Pulogadung intercity bus terminal in East Jakarta. "Passengers who wanted to go to Madura enjoyed a cut from Rp200,000 to Rp180,000 per person," he said adding that those going to Yogyakarta also paid a lower price as the fare had been reduced from Rp175,000 to Rp160,000 per passenger.

        In the meantime, Bambang Setyo Prayitno, spokesman of PT KA for region II operation in Bandung (West Java) said that fares for economy class intercity trains were lowered by 8 percent. "The cuts in the fares are only for intercity economic class, while those for commercial and for commuters (local train) were not lowered," he said.

        Four economy express trains in Bandung have lowered their fares, namely Pasundan for Bandung-Surabaya route, Kahuripan for Padalarang - Kediri, Kutojaya for Kiaracondong - Kutoarjo and Serayu I, II, III and IV for Jakarta - Kroya. The fares were lowered from Rp41,000 to Rp38,000 for Pasundan, from Rp21,000 to Rp19,000 for Kutojaya and from Rp20,500 to Rp19,000 for Serayu trains.

        In East Java, PT KA spokesman for region VIII operation, Sugeng Prijono said that train fares for economy class from Surabaya to a number of destinations had also lowered their tariff by 8 percent.

        Among trains which have cut their tariffs were Logawa, which had lowered their fares from Rp33,000 to Rp31,000 for the Jember-Purwokerto route, Gaya Baru Malam Selatan cut its tariff from Rp36,000 to Rp34,000 for the Surabaya-Jakarta route and Matarmaja from Rp55,000 to Rp51,000 for Malang-Jakarta and Sri Tanjung from Rp21,000 to Rp20,000 for Banyuwangi - Yogyakarta route.

        In the meantime, the Organization of Land Transport Owners (Organda) for East Java's Jember district, is also considering cutting the fares of its angkot (urban mini-van transport vehicle) by 10 percent. "Organda is now considering a cut for angkot fares by 10 percent after the government cut fuel oil three times," Organda Jember chairman Hari Sardi said.

        Angkot fares were also reduced by 10 percent in Cirebon, a district town in West Java. Cirebon Organda chairman H Iskandar Agus Banaji said that his side had cut the angkot fares in accordance with an agreement his organization had concluded with the local government. "The angkot fares are lowered from Rp2,500 to Rp2,200 for adults while for school children the fares are reduced Rp1,500 to Rp1,400," he said.

        In Banjarmasin, capital of South Kalimantan, the local government and Organda had agreed to lower angkot fares in the city by 8 percent. Romansyah, chief of land transportation affairs of the South Kalimantan's Transportation Service, said that with the lowering by eight percent, transport fares for Banjarmasin-Mertapura, for example, were reduced from a range of between Rp5,640 and Rp8,520 to a range of between Rp5,160 to Rp7,880.

        While many public transport operators have cut their transport fares, many others in a number of regions, such as South Sumatra, West and Central Kalimantan have not yet followed their counterparts in lowering their tariffs.

        Chairman of West Kalimantan Organda Adhie Rumbee said it was difficult to cut transport fares in the province because fuel oil accounted for only a small portion of the basic tariff elements.

        "We still charge our passengers with old tariffs because retailers are still selling fuel oils at old prices," said Edy Nyanyah, owner of a speed boat service in Muara Teweh, Central Kalimantan on Thursday.

        Actually, South Sumatra has lowered angkot fares from Rp2,500 to Rp2,200 but drivers still charged their passengers with the old tariffs. Head of South Sumatra's Tansportation Service Edi Nursalam promised to take actions against errant drivers who violated the decision. (T.A014/A/HAJM/A/S012) 16-01-2009 21:10:34

GOVT TO CUT TRANSPORTATION FARES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec. 22 (ANTARA) - Commuters and other public transportation users are likely to enjoy as a 'gift' a transportation fare cut at the end of this year, after the government announced on Sunday it was going to lower public transportation fares in the country by about 5.22 percent.

        Probably it is a small 'gift,' yet the fare cuts would at least reduce the burden of commuters and other public transportation users, particularly after transportation fares were raised by about 20 percent last June.

        "We have calculated that we can cut transportation fares by up to 5.22 percent," Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal said Sunday.

        The government's plan to lower public transportation fares follows its decision recently to cut fuel oil prices amid the steep fall of the world crude in the world market from US$147 a barrel in July to about US$40 per barrel this month.

        The government on Monday last week lowered the prices of premium gasoline from Rp5,500 per liter to Rp5,000 and diesel oil from Rp5,500 a liter to Rp4,800 per liter.

        The lowering of the premium gasoline price was taken for the second time this month. On December 1, it also cut gasoline price from Rp6,000 per liter to Rp5,500.

        As subsidized premium and diesel oil prices were lowered, calls for cuts in public transportation were also raised by the public.

        "Some administrations were quick to response to the fuel price cuts and have been calculating new transportation fares," Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal said.

        The minister, however, said that the regional administration would decide their own inter-city and inner city transportation fares. "West Java administration, for example, has proposed a 4 to 5 percent transportation cut. The new fares are waiting to be approved," he said.

        The cuts by an average of 5.22 percent in transportation fares are smaller than the average 20 percent increase (in Jakarta) last July. The increase by 20 percent was set by the Jakarta regional government based on suggestions made by the Jakarta Transportation Council and proposed to the city councilors.

        The transportation fares were increased in July in response to the government's decision to raise domestic fuel oil prices a month earlier.

        The government increased the prices of premium gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene by an average of 28.7 percent (respectively from Rp4,500 to Rp6,000 per liter, from Rp4,300 to Rp5,500 and from Rp2,000 to Rp2,500).

        As a result, the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) threatened to unilaterally raise public transportation fares by 40 to 50 percent, or call a nation-wide strike if in a week's time the government did not set a fair rate.

        "We are resolved to stage a nation-wide strike. We will do it so that passengers no longer need to pay the arbitrarily inflated fares as they do now. The public was already carrying a heavy economic burden so we should not add to their hardships," Organda Chairman Murphy Hutagalung said at that time.

        As alternative, Organda also proposed a subsidy which was equal to the amount of the difference between the old and new fuel oil price hikes.

        The requested subsidy for premium gasoline, for example, is Rp1,500 which is the difference between its old price of Rp4,500 and its new one Rp6,000.

        The tug-of-war between the government and Organda on transportation fare rates was ended with a decision to raise them by about 20 percent.

        The July tariff rates were fixed at Rp2,400 (students are to pay Rp700 only) for express buses and Rp2,280 for regular buses (students would pay only rp700) and Rp2,900 for small buses (minivans).

        Now that the fuel oil prices, including that of diesel oil which is used by many transportation vehicles, have been lowered, the government is also now planning to cut transportation fare rates.

        "The average rational cut is 5.22 percent," Transportation Minister Syafii Jamal said.

        He said that he had asked governors in the country to adjust transportation fare rates to the central government's decision in their respective regions.

        The minister said that one of the regional administrations which had been very quick in responding to the new policy was the West Java regional government. In the Bandung city, capital of West Java, transportation fares have been cut by about Rp500.

        The lowering of transportation fares in West Java was decided in a discussion that involved the Transportation Service Office of the Transportation Ministry, the Organda, the Indonesian Consumers Institute (YLKI) and the Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD).

        "We have decided a cut by about 4-5 percent in public transpiration fares. The decision is now waiting for the endorsement of the West Java governor," Head of West Java Transportation Service Herli Suherli said.     (T.A014/A/A014/A/F001) 22-12-2008 13:23:02