The goal is to have all public buses in Jakarta to operate using electric power by 2030.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta provincial government is encouraging the electrification of the city's bus rapid transit service TransJakarta through a transition from conventional to electric vehicles.

"I, on the behalf of Jakarta Governor and the provincial government, am very happy and laud TransJakarta's MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the private sector because this is good and extraordinary," Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria remarked here on Friday.

"Currently, everything is transitioning to electricity," he noted.

According to the deputy governor, several developed countries, such as Switzerland and Norway, already have cities that mandate the use of electric vehicles.

"Jakarta, as a global city, should be able to do it and must be able to do it," he remarked.

Jakarta has rolled out 30 electric buses so far, and this needs to be bolstered in terms of quality and quantity, he said.

To this end, TransJakarta has signed an MoU with two companies that own retrofit components and hold licenses to retrofit vehicles with electric kits.

"Some 30 out of 3,500 units of TransJakarta buses currently already utilize electric engines. The goal is to have all public buses in Jakarta to operate using electric power by 2030," Patria informed.

Moreover, the deputy governor said that the cooperation between the three parties can help meet the ten thousand bus electrification target by 2030 and improve domestic manufacturing capability.

The two companies that TransJakarta will cooperate with are preparing to retrofit buses for electrification to meet TransJakarta's demand.

"We are optimistic because it has been done in several countries. InsyaAllah (If God permits it), we will begin in Jakarta," he remarked.

"I expect that the existence of this conversion and profit will facilitate and expedite (the electrification process)," he added.

The acceleration of TransJakarta's electrification push is currently underway following the signing of an MoU between PT TransJakarta and British company Equipmake Holdings Plc and PT VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas on Thursday (August 18, 2022).

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Translator: Ricky Prayoga, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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