Kopaja to add more air-conditioned buses

JAKARTA: Bus operator PT Koperasi Angkutan Jakarta (Kopaja) has said that new fleets of air-conditioned Kopaja buses will hit the capital’s streets by the end of this month.

Kopaja chairman Nanang Basuki said that his company would deploy 10 of the new air-conditioned Kopaja buses on two routes.

“They will be on the P-19 and P-20 routes,” Nanang said on Monday, referring to Kopaja buses serving the Tanah Abang-Ragunan route (P-19) and the Pasar Senen-Lebak Bulus route (P-20).

According to Nanang, Kopaja currently operates 20 air-conditioned buses, which were introduced in August last year. The buses all serve the Ragunan-Slipi-Grogol route (S-13). The air-conditioned Kopaja buses have been hailed by many as the role model for the revitalization of the capital’s old and creaking public transportation, as the buses stop only at designated stops and are driven by drivers on a fixed monthly salary.

Nanang claimed that the air-conditioned buses, which charge Rp 5,000 (US 53 cents) per passenger, were safer than other modes of public transportation.

Iskandar Abubakar from the Jakarta Transportation Council (DTKJ) welcomed the plan, saying that the deployment of new fleets of air-conditioned buses was imperative for the capital to escape massive gridlock.

The increasing number of air-conditioned Kopaja buses, he argued, would attract commuters from driving private cars to using public transportation.