Curbing Virus Spread with Hygienic Transportation Modes
The Commuter Line, Transjakarta, the MRT Jakarta and the LRT Jakarta are the mainstays of public transportation in the capital – and the convergence point for millions of Jakartans with their various health conditions.
Many people in Greater Jakarta rely on public transportation on a daily basis. Millions of residents use them regularly to reach their workplaces. Along with this huge number of commuters is the equally huge potential for the spread of the coronavirus, if the transportation operators do not properly maintain hygiene and cleanliness of their facilities and services.
Crowded mass transit services are a common sight in the capital. As Indonesia’s center of government, trade and services, Jakarta is where the millions of commuters living in the city’s suburbs work. A 2019 Statistics Indonesia (BPS) survey on commuters showed that 3.3 million people on average commuted daily to Greater Jakarta. This is the equivalent of 11 percent of the region’s 29.3 million population above 5 years old.
Also read : Autonomous Vehicles in New Capital
The transportation modes vary in usage. Three out of four people in Greater Jakarta still rely on private vehicles, including motorcycles (63.3 percent) and cars (8.8 percent). However, 865,700 residents use public transportation. This is the privilege of living in Jakarta, which is among the few Indonesian provinces that offer a variety of modern transportation modes to the public.
Three mass transit services are a mainstay among Greater Jakarta residents. First is the Transjakarta bus rapid transit (BRT), which servesd a daily average of 995,000 passengers in 2019. Next is the Commuter Line train service, which carried an average 980,000 passengers per day in 2019. Then, there is the MRT Jakarta, which served a daily average of 95,000 passengers in the first year of its operations.
Convergence point
Public transportation is a convergence point for commuters from various areas around Jakarta. For instance, a single Transjakarta bus measuring 12 meters long can carry 80 passengers during rush hour.
City-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta currently has a fleet of 3,865 buses, 46.1 percent of which are big buses of at least 12 meters long. The company serves 247 routes with 260 stops.
Also read : Pros and Cons of Operational Restrictions of Public Transportation
Meanwhile, Commuter Line trains can carry 250-300 passengers per car, with one train commonly comprising 12 cars. This means that one train can carry 3,000-3,600 passengers.
This figure does not take into account the fact that passengers hop on and off along a single train line. In 2019, state-owned train operator PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) operated 83 trains on 90 lines with 80 stations in Greater Jakarta.
Studies have shown that microorganisms thrive in public transportation facilities.
Along with the high mobility of people within a single transportation mode comes the high potential for human-to-human transmission of viruses and other pathogens. This may occur at stops and shelters, terminals, stations or aboard buses and train cars.
Banisters, handrails in elevators, e-card scanners, handgrips, poles and seats are just some examples of transmission vectors. Looking at the massive number of commuters, surely many different people touch these objects.
Studies have shown that microorganisms thrive in public transportation facilities. This corresponds a 2017 study titled “Identification of Microorganisms on Waiting Platforms of Public Transportation Modes in Jakarta” by Syarifah Miftahul E., et al. The study sampled six terminals and found that the majority of microorganisms lived on fences, seats, ticket booths and stairs.
It found five types of microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus, S. saprophyticus, B. subtilis, S. epidermidis, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Of these five, S. aureus and S. saprophyticus were the most common. S. aureus is a commensal and pathogenic bacterium that causes skin infections with a prevalence of 18-30 percent in Asia.
S. saprophyticus and S. epidermidis are different. These bacteria are part of the normal flora of microbes that live on human skin. They are non-pathogenic, non-invasive and non-hemolytic.
The Syarifah study shows that the two bacteria are commonly found in public facilities. These bacteria are similar to B. subtilis that can survive for long on dust, soil or air due to their spore. What sets the bacteria apart is that they can cause diarrhea if they go into the body of a person with low level of immunity.
Of the six sampled terminals, Tanjung Priok terminal has the largest amount of bacteria. All five bacteria, including MRSA, are found there. The MRSA is S. aureus that has become resistant to methicillin antibiotics. MRSA emerges as a nosocomial infection that often causes skin and soft tissue infection. After Tanjung Priok, Grogol and Kampung Rambutan terminals are also rife with bacteria.
Covid-19 alert
On Wednesday, 11 March 2020, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said that transportation routes were among the potential media of Covid-19 spread. He explained that the largest contamination is on KRL-2 route traversing between Bogor, Depok and Jakarta Kota.
Other routes, such as KRL-4 traversing Cikarang, Bekasi and East Jakarta, are relatively free of Covid-19. The map is based on the distribution of persons under monitoring (ODP) and patients under surveillance (PDP) in the region.
Indonesians are increasing their vigilance after the first two Covid-19 cases in the country was reported on 2 March 2020. At the time, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta about the two cases. They were a 64-year-old mother and her 31-year-old daughter residing in Depok, West Java. Since then, similar cases have cropped up in other regions in Indonesia.
Covid-19 can spread human-to-human through droplets from the nose or the mouth. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, spreads when the person who has it coughs or sneezes. Others who are close by can contract the disease when the droplets enter their body.
Furthermore, the virus can also spread when the droplets land on an object in a crowded place. Other persons can touch the object and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth, unwittingly bringing the virus into their body.
Nine days is enough time for a surface to be touched by a massive amount of people.
Similar to the five bacteria found in the six sampled terminals in Jakarta, the SARS-Cov-2 virus can also land in objects in public transportation modes and terminals.
Referring to an article in sciencealert.com, researchers did a similar approach to other coronaviruses, including those that caused SARS and MERS, to find out the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2. Through this effort, they found that, at room temperature, SARS-CoV-2 as a human pathogen can survive on surfaces and remain infectious for up to nine days.
Nine days is enough time for a surface to be touched by a massive amount of people. This is a cause of concern as microorganisms can be touched by hands that later touch faces. A 2015 study by Yen Lee Angela K found that the average person touches his or her face 23 times in an hour. The journal article “A Frequent Habit that has Implications for Hand Hygiene” cited that a person can touch his or her mouth four times with a duration of 1-12 seconds.
Early anticipation
All transportation mode operators have certain standards to maintain hygiene on their fleet. PT KCI, for instance, routinely clean all train cars at the depot at night.
There is also an on-trip cleaning, in which the floor of train cars are cleaned with disinfectant while in operation. Especially as a Covid-19 anticipation measure, PT KCI provides antiseptics in stations and trains.
PT Transjakarta is taking similar steps, especially after the issuance of Jakarta Governor’s Instruction No. 16/2020 on increasing vigilance on Covid-19 spread. Since early February 2020, the company has tightened its cleaning procedures.
Buses are cleaned with disinfectant in the garage, including their handgrips, especially before and after they are operated. Electronic card tap machines are also routinely cleaned and antiseptics are made available at all 80 stops.
City-owned public transportation operators PT MRT Jakarta and PT LRT Jakarta are also taking similar steps. Both have even gone one step further in attempting to detect sick passengers by placing officers to check passengers’ body temperature using forehead thermometers at the entrance gates of all stations. Passengers with body temperature of more than 38 degrees Celsius are told to visit the station’s health clinic.
As offices across Jakarta are implementing a work-from-home policy, public transportation operators have launched their social-distancing campaigns. PT MRT, for instance, only allowed 60 passengers per train car or 360 passengers per train set nowadays.
Normally, the service allows up to 332 passengers per car or 1,950 passengers per train set. The limitation is imposed to keep a safe distance of at least one meter between passengers while queuing at train stations or inside trains.
Other than efforts by public transportation operators, people’s self-awareness is of no less importance. The most important step is to adhere to all government policies, including staying at home and limiting interaction with other people.
Furthermore, wash your hand routinely with water and soap or liquid antiseptics in line with World Health Organization (WHO) regulation. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested that liquid antiseptics contain at least 60-percent alcohol.
Similar to the characteristics of B. subtilis, the SARS-CoV-2 virus will not cause Covid-19 on persons with good immunity. The WHO also reported that, as of 20 Feb. 2020, the case fatality ratio (CFR) of Covid-19 was 3.8 percent. The mortality rate is higher among older people.
The highest mortality rate is found in people over 80, namely at 21.9 percent. The death may not be entirely caused by the virus but by complications of other illnesses, instead.
Public transportation modes are provided to ease commuters. Their main mission is to reduce the use of private vehicles that may create several problems, such as traffic jams, fuel consumption and carbon emission.
The Covid-19 outbreak has caused widespread concern. However, with proper anticipatory measures, the virus spread can be curbed.
(KOMPAS R&D)