City - Labor Unions Collaborate on Transition of Equitable Public Transportation in Jakarta

Jakarta Capital City Government and Transportation Workers Union are committed to supporting each other in realizing a socially just public transportation transition in Jakarta.

Public transportation ecosystem is already running and it must be developed gradually

It was a mutual understanding in the Jakarta government dialogue which was attended by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, Regional C40 Milag Director San Jose-Ballesteros, Transjakarta, MRT, Railway Workers Union (SPKA), Jakarta Transportation Workers Union (SPTJ), Aerospace Workers Union and Transportation (SPDT), and International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), which took place at Jakarta City Hall, Monday (8/29).

This dialogue is a series of U20 activities, which began with the Joint Statement of the coalition between C40 and the ITF at COP 26 in Glasgow, 2021. The follow-up to the Joint Statement was The Future is Public Transport campaign, which was supported by C40 Cities and ITF. Governor Anies as Vice Chair of the C40 Steering Committee emphasized that in the Joint Statement, access to public transportation is important for all parties to stop the climate crisis.

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The discussion itself focused on three main concepts from the ITF, namely electricity-based public transportation, gender equality, and welfare, as well as driver safety and health.

Governor revealed that so far the big vision of the transportation program in Jakarta is Social Justice. It was important given the changing life of transportation not only today but continuously. It is not only about facilities and infrastructure but also changes in people's behavior.

The government's commitment to stop the climate crisis is realized by electrifying public transportation and providing access to public transportation that is close to residents, safe, and cheap. Governor recently inaugurated affordable housing in the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) area, which brings people closer to public transportation.

The government also has set a target of 100% electrification of the entire fleet from big buses to mikrotrans in the next few years. As a first step, as many as 30 units of Transjakarta electric buses have been operating in the capital city. The best approach for this electrification transition is to work with the unions to ensure an equitable electrification transition.

From a driver's perspective, the government conducted various kinds of training that Transjakarta drivers must participate in to answer the electrification challenge. Not only that, more than 1,000 Jaklingko mikrotrans drivers (as of the end of August 2022) had received Public Transport Driver Certification training to improve their performance.

In the transition to public transportation for all, public transportation in Jakarta has been integrated with affordable fares, including mikrotrans, metrotrans, Transjakarta, MRT, LRT, and will increase in other modes of transportation. The number of female drivers and workers in the public transportation sector, especially Transjakarta and MRT is also increasing.

"Thus far, the public transportation ecosystem is already running and it must be developed gradually, thus the system can be sustainable," he continued.

In the dialogue, union representatives stated that the progress and transition of public transportation to the era of digitalization and electrification did not necessarily leave the welfare of workers behind. They hope that the unions can continue to be involved in planning for the transition to electrification of public transport by improving the quality of minimum service standards.

"As transportation workers who are at the forefront of the climate crisis, we recognize the importance of involving various stakeholders in the urban transportation system. We also support 100% of the efforts made by the government to promote public transportation in Jakarta," uttered SPKA Chairman Edi Suryanto.

The government keeps trying to realize a just public transportation transition, which is in line with the 10 global concepts of transportation. It starts from the protection of workers' economic and social rights; seeking equal access for all; increasing the capacity of workers; establish a tariff fixing system. Then is implementing the welfare scheme for drivers who are members of JakLingko and their families, including through the provision of the Jakarta Smart Card (KJP) and BPJS, including improving access to public transportation starting from the design phase and supporting facilities, such as integrated infrastructure and affordable fares.