Jakarta To Provide 100 Free Public Buses

Jakarta, Nov 11 (Antara) - The Jakarta Provincial Administration plans to provide 100 free city buses to reduce the use of private vehicles and to ease traffic congestion in the city. "This program is aimed to lessen the use of private vehicles, especially motorcycles," Acting Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaya Purnama stated here on Tuesday. In the initial stage, the free public buses will ply on major streets Medan Merdeka Barat and M.H. Thamrin. The administration will also impose a ban on the use of motorcycles on the routes outlined for the free buses. "The number of accidents on Medan Merdeka Barat and M.H. Thamrin roads is quite high, and 60 percent of the victims were motorcyclists," the acting governor reported. The free bus program will also be implemented in other parts of Jakarta such as Kuningan, a business area in Jakarta, Kota Tua, and Blok M. The main objective of the program is reduce the number of motorcyclists, he emphasized. "So, they (motorcyclists) can park their motorcycles in the parking lots of the buildings and continue to travel on the buses free of charge," he added. The program was also intended to reduce the number of motorcycle robbery cases in the city, he stated. Head of the Transportation Office of the Jakarta Administration Muhammad Akbar remarked that the free city bus program will come into effect in December 2014. "In the early stage, there will be some socialization and installation of no-entry signs warning motorcyclists on Medan Merdeka Barat and M.H. Thamrin Streets," Akbar noted.