Jakarta’s hotly anticipated inner city railway system, the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), is expected to alleviate some of the capital’s congestion woes, but it remains to be seen if its fares will agree with people’s wallets.
The system’s operators, PT MRT Jakarta, has proposed two possible fare schemes to the Jakarta Provincial Government, both of which should be comfortably affordable for the city’s urbanites.
As reported by Kompas, the first option amounts to IDR8,500 (US$0.56) per 10 kilometers traveled, broken down into an IDR1,500 boarding fee and IDR700 for every kilometer traveled. The second option amounts to IDR10,000 per 10 kilometers traveled, consisting of the same boarding fee but IDR850 for every kilometer traveled.
The first phase of the MRT, consisting of a line connecting South Jakarta’s Lebak Bulus to Hotel Indonesia Roundabout in Central Jakarta, measures around 14.6 kilometers in distance. Under the two aforementioned options, the maximum fare would come to IDR12,000 or IDR14,000 respectively.
PT MRT say they arrived at the two options after conducting public surveys. The Jakarta Provincial Government has yet to approve any fares for the MRT, but is expected to do so after discussions conclude at the end of this month.
PT MRT Jakarta previously announced that the first phase of the MRT will be open to the public by March 2019. It is currently in the testing phase with one last major month-long trial set for mid-February.
Officials say the MRT will operate daily from 5 am to 12 pm, with trains passing each station every five minutes during busy periods (6 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 7 pm) and every 10 minutes for the rest of the day.
Phase two of the MRT, extending the first line north up to Kampung Bandan in Mangga Dua near the border of North and Central Jakarta, is set to begin construction at the end of this year to be ready by 2025.
Much hope has been placed on the MRT to alleviate the capital’s traffic woes. Minister of National Development Planning Bambang Brodjonegoro said last year that Jakarta’s macet — a consequence of the city’s lateness in constructing rail-based transportation systems like the MRT — costs the country US$5 billion each year in lost productivity.
The MRT has seen some delays in the past few years, having been previously targeted for completion in 2018 in times for the Asian Games that were co-hosted by Jakarta in August and September.
