Jakarta to beef up public transportation fleet with 4,000 buses

The Jakarta administrative announced on Monday that it would provide a fleet of 90 TransJakarta buses to operate from midnight until early morning to cater to people working late.

Prasetya Budi, a spokesman for the Transjakarta Management Body, or BLU, said on Monday that the program was expected to roll out early 2014.
The buses will run from 11 p.m to 5 a.m. and the routes would be those connecting to major terminals such as Pulo Gadung and Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta, and Kalideres in West Jakarta.

The night bus program is just the latest effort by the city administration to expand and improve Jakarta's flagship public transportation program.

City Hall announced last month that it would take delivery of 756 new and secondhand buses before the end of 2013, with some 310 to be used on TransJakarta routes and the rest to replace the ageing fleet of regular public buses.

Udar Pristono, the head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said the city had earmarked Rp 1 trillion (US$84 million) for the purchase.

He also said the Jakarta administration was aiming to beef up its public transportation fleet with a further 4,000 buses.

The TransJakarta network currently records some 360,000 passenger trips a month, according to the BLU.