On Wednesday, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama commissioned 116 new buses that were purchased for TransJakarta at a launch event in Monas. But there were two more Transjakarta buses unveiled that day that are very special for two reasons.
The first reason is the the buses have been given a retro-styling designed to make them resemble the old Jakarta Passenger Carrier (Pengangkut Penumpang Djakarta or PPD) buses that were once the dominant bus type in the capital.
“This is meant to remind people about the role that the PPD played at the time, and to show that they can still serve residents of Jakarta,” PT Transportasi Jakarta director Budi Kaliwono on Wednesday as quoted by Kompas.
But besides the cool design, the second reason that these buses are cool is because they will have special facilities to serve TransJakarta’s disabled passengers.
The buses will work with the “Transjakarta Cares” program that lets disabled residents call up a free car service that will transport them as far as the closest bus stop with accessibility ramps for the disabled.
Currently, there are five Transjakarta Cares cars serving people with disabilities in Central Jakarta and West Jakarta. Reservations to use the car need to be made one day in advance and can be done by calling the program’s hotline at 1500-102.
Each Transjakarta Cares car not only has a driver but also one program staff member on hand to assist passengers.
“We are targeting to operate 40 units of the vehicles in the near future,” Budi said.
In addition to the Transjakarta Cares program, the government is also introducing a new policy starting November 1 allowing the disabled, elderly and veterans to apply for a card that allows them to ride Transjakarta buses for free.
