PT Transjakarta has implemented a mechanism to parse the passenger surge in line with the increasing need for transportation after the large-scale social restriction (PSBB) is extended to end of June.

From our data and records, the breakdown time has been successfully shortened from 25-30 minutes in early transition period

Nadia Diposanjoyo, spokesperson of PT Transjakarta said this mechanism has been proven to minimize the passenger surge at transit bus stops during rush hours with transport speeds and accuracy up to more than three times than the normal time.

"From our data and records, the breakdown time has been successfully shortened from 25-30 minutes in early transition period up to less than five minutes starting on the third day or a decrease in passenger surge up to 80 percent," she expressed, Thursday (6/11).

According to her, Transjakarta struggles every minute to parse it. Besides making modifications, it also ensures path sterilization for smooth dispatch trips, adds a personnel to handle passenger surge at bus stops and queues, monitor transport density in the bus in order to maintain physical distancingin curbing the COVID-19 transmission.

She explained Command Center Tije indicates the crowded bus stops and makes a dispatch option to then inform the area coordinator and the designated bus stop to be decomposed. Officers implementing four of the following protocols:

• Queue positioning by maximizing the bus stop area while continuing to maintain physical distancing

• Temporary closure for passengers who want to enter from outside the bus stop

• Accelerating passenger flow out of the bus stop by following the tap out mechanism at the exit gate

• Arranging the process of dropping passengers by temporarily holding bus arrivals

Meanwhile the bus speed management team prepared specific strategies such as:

• Setting up empty buses at the nearest bus stop

• Imposing pivot routes or not serving until the end bus stop to the routes that have been evaluated for the number of passengers at the end stop to serve crowded stops

• Dispatching an empty bus to parse passengers surge at the bus stop

• Modifying the direct route to the destination without having to transit to minimize passenger surge at transit stops

• Dispatching bus from lonely routes to parse congested routes and build up of passengers

In the meantime, during PSBB status, the bus serves 127,306 passengers every day in 13 corridors with limited operational time from 6 AM to 6 PM for public and 10 PM to 12 AM for health workers. After the transition is applied, there is an increase of 22 percent every day with limited operational time, additional operations starting at 5 AM to 10 PM for public and until 12 AM for health workers and additional three integration routes for the Indonesian Commuter Train (KCI) station.

Since PSBB is set, its daily operations are recorded to cover 231 km across 13 corridors to serve five regions of Jakarta. The management tries to continue serving Jakartans who have emergency activities in this pandemic through the implementation and monitoring of operational health protocols and rigid services.

"We won't be tired of always reminding our customers to maintain health, comply with protocols for the health and safety of others," she closed.