Well, it seems the Jakarta provincial government is really intent on getting more Jakartans to make use of the city’s public transportation, particularly the Transjakarta. And what better way to get bums on those seats than to let people ride the bus for free?
After allowing Jakarta Smart Card-holding students to ride the Transjakarta for free, and announcing that seniors will soon enjoy the same privilege, Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said he plans to do the same for the city’s civil servants.
“In the future, when there are enough buses, I want to push the possibility that all of Jakarta’s civil servants [can ride the Transjakarta] for free. We’re counting [the costs], but we’re going in that direction,” Ahok said today, as quoted by Merdeka.
But Ahok doesn’t want to stop there. He wants all of Jakarta’s citizens to be able to ride the Transjakarta for free, as long as they have a bank account at Bank DKI.
“If there are enough buses, why should [people] pay? This is going to help the economy,” he said.
Hey, we certainly can’t complain with that. We’d even open up an account at Bank DKI just for the privilege. But we don’t want to get our hopes up since this is still a very tentative plan.
