Since the operation of Trans Jogja buses in February 2008, the number of bus passengers continued to show an increase, especially during long holidays such as Idul Fitri, the buses are always crowded with passengers. However, the development of Trans Jogja did not get the support of the officers who should provide support to it.
According to the view of UGM traffic expert, Prof. Dr. Ing. Ir. Ahmad Munawar, M.Sc., the bureaucracy became an obstacle. This is indicated by the fact that twenty Trans Jogja new buses from the Ministry of Transportation have not been operated. "They have not been operated for almost a year because of the transfer constraints in the license number plate from red to yellow. Whereas, in other cities, such as Surakarta and Pekanbaru, this is not a problem. It seems the public interest was put aside by the complexity of the bureaucracy in Yogyakarta," said Ahmad Munawar on UGM campus, Friday (1/10).
In addition, the field officials' lack of awareness in public transport priority makes urban public transport "set aside". In cases of traffic jam on Jalan Malioboro, for example, by applying open-close system, urban public transport, both Trans Jogja and other urban public transports should obtain priority to pass. "That way, passengers who have been waiting at the bus stops along the Malioboro Street are not disappointed," he said.
This Project Team Leader of Hi-Link 'Integration of Urban Public Transport of Yogya and Solo' (the cooperation product between UGM, Yogyakarta's Transport Agency, and PT Gama Techno) said that the bus priority system trials conducted at the junction of State Islamic University of Yogyakarta some time before had been stopped for "obstructing the traffic". In fact, neighboring countries such as Singapore and Australia have used such a system since many years ago, the priority system that automatically changes traffic signals to green when the bus passed. Thus, the bus never stops for a red light when approaching a signalized intersection. "Therefore, traffic congestion which has occured in Yogyakarta can not be solved with only regulating traffic flow in the field, but with the demand management policy, particularly to divert users of private vehicles to public transport. This is done by giving priorities to the Yogyakarta urban public transportation in order to make public transport more attractive," said professor of Traffic Management, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering UGM.
In Yogyakarta, Ahmad Munawar said, actually there are further plans to integrate urban public transport, namely Trans Jogja, Prameks train and Trans Batik Solo, and in fact it has arranged scheduling up to ticketing. "But unfortunately, because of bureaucratic constraints and lack of awareness among officials of the importance of public transport priority, the development of urban public transport is obstructed and it is feared that traffic congestion in Yogyakata will get worse," he concluded.