Using public transportation is more efficient than using a private car that includes fuel, parking, and other expensesSolo, C Java (ANTARA) - The Transportation Ministry has designated Solo as a reference city for the buy the service (BTS) concept that encompasses a system of services purchased by the government that involve operators or transportation service entrepreneurs.
"Currently, 10 cities in Indonesia have developed this concept for mass transportation. Many people and local governments are keen to learn about the management of the BTS program," Director of Road Transportation at the Directorate General of Land Transportation of the Transportation Ministry Suharto stated during the launch of Corridor five and six of Batik Solo Trans (BST) here, Thursday.
He assessed that Solo City remained firmly committed to developing the concept. In fact, Solo has been able to integrate the transportation master plan, land use arrangement, and the public's attention to the importance of mass transportation.
Suharto highlighted the importance of the public being kept abreast of the importance and the optimization of means of mass transportation through the concept of BTS.
"Using public transportation is more efficient than using a private car that includes fuel, parking, and other expenses," Suharto explained.
The ministry drew attention to an average annual growth of 13 percent in the number of private vehicles, while infrastructure growth was below one percent per year. In fact, several regions have recorded infrastructure growth of just 0.01 percent.
"With a concept that competes with the growth of vehicles, infrastructure often falls short. With such scale of growth of vehicles while the vehicle capacity remaining quite the same, what will happen is density, with the queues being quite long," he pointed out.
"The growth in the number of vehicles is not in line with the extent of infrastructure growth. Eventually, it will create traffic," he emphasized.
Meanwhile, Suharto stated that the BST mass transportation applying the BTS concept also contributed to community empowerment in the Solo region.
"With six corridors and 130 operating vehicles, from the perspective of human resources, 700 people are already involved. This will empower people in Solo," he noted.
On the same occasion, Surakarta Deputy Mayor Teguh Prakosa noted that the Surakarta city government remained committed to providing affordable and efficient means of mass transportation to support environment-friendly transportation.
"This service also encourages people to reduce the use of private vehicles. The BTS service is a form of the government's concern to serve the public with means of transportation that are safe, comfortable, and affordable," Prakosa emphasized.
He highlighted that the pros to buying the service program are being able to provide service certainty to passengers, both in terms of the efficiency of travel time at each corridor and the certainty of one-time payment during multiple rides.
"The route for the six corridors will continue to be improved, starting from Solo-Sukoharjo-Wonogiri to Solo-Karanganyar-Klaten-Sragen and to Boyolali. Thus, regional heads in the Solo area are optimistic that the addition of this corridor would be conducted immediately in order to facilitate people and support tourism," he added.
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Translator: Aris Wasita, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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