Making TransJakarta a World Class BRT System - ITDP | Institute for ...

Now that TransJakarta is open, this structure has still not fundamentally changed,
although there are discussions underway as to how best to alter this structure.
In the case of TransMilenio, the structure was similar, but with a few critical differences.
Before TransMilenio was created, the planning function and the physical works were
split. The detailed engineering and construction contracts were awarded and supervised
by the Department of Public Works, while the planning contracts, which identified the
corridors and established the basic system designs, were awarded to Steer Davies Gleave
by the Department of Transportation. Steer Davies Gleave was an internationally
accredited and widely respected planning and engineering firm, of a much higher caliber
than PT Pamintory Cipta.
Before TransMilenio was created, there was a technical review committee with
representatives of the Department of Transportation, Public Works, TransMilenio’s
Project Unit, and it was chaired by a representative of the Mayor (Ignacio de Guzman)
who reported directly to him. This review committee was empowered to take final
decisions on all critical issues relating to planning and physical design. In the case of a
conflict, it was settled directly by the Mayor directly.
Importantly, after TransMilenio was established, responsibility for detailed design and
planning of future corridors was transferred from the Department of Transportation to
TransMilenio’s Department of Planning, and final decision-making was shifted from this
technical committee under the Mayor to the Board of TransMilenio (also controlled by
the Mayor).
Furthermore, the power of regulating bus routes in the TransMilenio Corridors was
shifted from the Department of Transportation to TransMilenio before the system
opened. TransMilenio’s Board changes with the Mayor, but at the time that
TransMilenio was first created, the Department of Transportation was not on the Board.
This decision was taken by Mayor Penalosa mainly because the Department of
Transportation resisted the removal of competing bus routes in the TransMilenio corridor,
because the Department of Transportation earned money from these routes.
A makpr difference between Jakarta’s structure and that of Bogota was that the Tim
Coordinasi in Jakarta did not really have decision-making authority. This authority was
taken almost entirely by DisHub. This was possible mainly because they had budgetary
control over the project, and because the Governor gave them this power. We do not
know whether the technical shortcomings of the system were primarily the result of lack
of technical capacity, the very tight time frame, because non-technical considerations
were driving the decision-making process, or a combination of these factors. With
perhaps the exception of the problems with the ticketing system, certainly the main
problem was not the lack of sound technical advice. DKI Jakarta had available to them
sound expert advice from some of the leading BRT experts in the world, and from the UI
CTS, which understood the technical and institutional issues well. Most of the key
concerns were raised in the Tim Coordinasi meetings and summarized in a Technical
Review issued by ITDP in December of 2003. The Governor and the DisHub leadership
Final Recommendations for TransJakarta, p. 26