JAKARTA: Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung is gearing up to expand the portfolio of city-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta by transforming it into a limited liability company to secure more funds, as the city seeks to venture into water transit and aviation services.
Launched in 2004, the Transjakarta bus service has become the city’s busiest transit mode, with networks now covering around 92 per cent of the capital with ridership reaching an average of 40 million passengers each month.
City Hall previously announced that the company would diversify its profile beyond just managing the bus service, with an ongoing plan of taking over and expanding the operations of water transportation connecting mainland Jakarta and Thousands Islands regency by 2027.
The water transit is currently operated by the Jakarta Transportation Agency, with a limited number of water taxis.
The expansion plans continued late last week, when Pramono announced that Jakarta would begin preparing a new bylaw granting Transjakarta bigger roles to boost public connectivity, including managing air transportation infrastructure and offering consultancy services to other regional administrations.
Speaking before a City Council plenary session on Thursday, Pramono said the rising demand of reliable transit access and the ever-broadening roles of Transjakarta would require a restructuring of the company in exchange for securing what he described as “creative financing”.
“Expanding the scope of work and operation area requires strengthening financial capital to ensure business development runs in a sound, measured and sustainable manner,” Pramono told city councillors.
The budget earmarked for the company has now increased to Rp 13.4 trillion (US$749 trillion) from Rp 5.2 trillion in 2025, though Pramono said the current regional fiscal capacity had fallen short of supporting the planned expansion.
He therefore proposed transforming Transjakarta into a city-owned limited liability company, which would allow private ownership of up to 49 per cent shares in the transportation company.
Pramono’s special staffer Cyril “Chico” Hakim said the multimodal expansion was intended to better integrate transportation services for Jakarta’s 11 million residents and for 42 million people living in neighbouring cities, many of whom commute daily to jobs in the capital.
Chico said therefore a regulation governing municipal aviation in Jakarta needed to be prepared at an early stage.
“The governor believes it’s unusual for a city of this size to lack air transit regulations,” Chico told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Councillors have largely welcomed the planned transformation of Transjakarta, although further deliberations are still required for its formal restructuring.
Djoko Setijowarno, an advisory board member of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), also raised hopes that the new scheme would gain Jakarta more funds for developing its much-needed transit connectivity.
“But the central government should have also taken greater roles in providing more funds designated for public transportation,” he said on Sunday (Oct 4).
According to Djoko, limited regional budgets, coupled with their frequent poor allocation, have in general hampered the majority of 514 local administrations across Indonesia from developing reliable transit modes.
Pramono, a senior politician of quasi-opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has repeatedly touted ideas to pursue alternative financing channels to fund his public transit initiatives following nationwide budget cuts imposed by the central government.
The cuts, aimed at financing President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship initiatives such as his costly free nutritious meal programme, has caused Jakarta to lose Rp 15 trillion in revenue-sharing funds (DBH).
To fill the gaps, Pramono last month pressed ahead with plans to issue municipal bonds worth up to Rp 5.6 trillion by 2027 to finance the expansion of its light rail transit (LRT), despite a brief pushback from former finance minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
