Trust in Public Transit Must be Maintained

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Spray-painted footprints in a parking lot indicate places where passengers should stand to maintain safe distance in an extended queue at Bogor Station in the city of Bogor, West Java, as seen on Monday (15/6/2020).

Public trust in the health and safety of public transportation will affect the sustainability of the sector’s services and businesses In the long run. Public transportation companies must maintain public trust through strict adherence to the health protocols.

Transportation companies are facing a new set of challenges in implementing preventive efforts and ensuring adaptability in the “new normal”, including adherence to the health protocols, amid their plans to stay productive both economically and business-wise.

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Assuring the health and safety of public transportation is closely linked to their passengers’ trust amid the Covid-19 epidemic. The higher the companies’ assurances of health and safety, the higher the trust among their passengers will be. In the long run, this trust will affect public transportation companies’ sustainability in terms of service and business.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Tuesday (16/6/2020) during a public lecture themed.

“We do not want a second wave [of infection]. The President has often reiterated that there must be only one wave that ends in September, God willing. We are doing our best,” Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Tuesday (16/6/2020) during a public lecture themed “Prevention and Adaptability of Transportation Businesses in the New Normal” at Bina Nusantara (Binus) University.

The government has asked all parties to remain alert, prepared, obedient and disciplined to ensure productivity and safety amid the epidemic. Success in defeating Covid-19 depends on public awareness in adhering strictly to the health protocols.

National flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk president director Irfan Setiaputra said that the maximum passenger capacity on commercial airplanes was now 70 percent. “However, it is 63 percent for Garuda aircraft. We cannot [meet] 70 percent because of empty middle seats and the business class cabin on [Boeing] 737s,” he said.

Irfan continued that he had told his peers in the airline industry not to push for 100 percent capacity, as public trust in air transportation would diminish if passengers were forced to sit too close to each other on aircraft filled to full capacity.

Furthermore, industry analysts have said that the airline industry might fully recover in two or three years. It is feared that public distrust would only further protract the industry’s recovery.

CEO Noni Purnomo of publicly listed land transportation operator PT Blue Bird Tbk shared Irfan’s views, saying that transportation companies should look ahead rather than thinking merely about surviving the current conditions. “We have to boost our self-confidence,” she said.

Collaboration between transportation companies is necessary to ensure consistency in implementing the health protocols. Public trust in public transportation will decline if some companies are neglectful in enforcing the protocols.

PT MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said that the most important thing for transportation companies to do was to work together with each another to increase public trust.

“Public trust is highly important. Whatever the public transportation mode, in the end, the people must believe that they will have safety and comfort when using public transportation. They need the personal experience that it is safe,” William said.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

A medical worker wearing a face shield performs a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for Covid-19 during a testing program for taxi drivers on 20 April 2020 at the Transportation Ministry in Central Jakarta.

Binus University deputy rector for academic development Engkos Achmad Kuncoro said that an ambidextrous approach to public transportation that balanced humanitarian and economic aspects could be an alternative solution. “Through this concept, it is hoped that the transportation business and all stakeholders will be able to resolve the problems properly,” he said.

Easing restrictions

Through Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 41/2020 dated 8 June 2020, the government has amended the maximum number of passengers that transportation modes may carry from the previous rule under Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 18/2020. Moving forward, the maximum passenger capacity per transportation mode will be regulated in circulars issued by the ministry’s director generals for land transportation, sea transportation, air transportation and railway services.

The maximum passenger capacity for aircraft, for instance, has been increased from 50 percent capacity to 70 percent capacity. Meanwhile, maximum passenger capacity for commuter trains has been increased from 35 percent to 45 percent capacity during the easing of the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). However, many have questioned the rationale for easing the PSBB, as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.

“As long as there are no indicators that the number of Covid-19 cases is declining, it is better to stay consistent with the [social] restrictions of the PSBB, namely that [public transportation modes] carry passengers at 50 percent [capacity] at most,” Transportation Study Institute (Instran) executive director Deddy Herlambang said on Wednesday (10/6/2020).

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Passengers crowd a platform as a Commuter Line train heading to Jatinegara Station in Jakarta pulls in to Bogor Station on Monday (15/6/2020) in the West Java city of Bogor.

Deddy said that the suggestion to limit passenger capacity to 50 percent was just a rough estimation. The percentile must be recalculated to take into account onboard physical distancing measures in order to minimize the risk of Covid-19 transmission on public transportation modes. Incorporating physical distancing into the calculation means a distance of 1 meter between passengers.

Deddy continued that Indonesia could learn from other countries that social restrictions should be eased only when the number of Covid-19 cases started declining. “Amid the limitations on public transportation services, we need to regulate the movement of people instead of technicalities related to transportation modes. One example is to stagger employees’ working hours, so that they start work at 7 a.m., 8 a.m. or 9 a.m.,” he said.

Staggering working hours could be a solution to avoid passengers crowding transportation modes and hubs during peak hours in the morning and afternoon.