Source: Kompas.com | 21 May 2024

The Indonesian Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi is encouraging the acceleration of the development of electric buses as public transportation in urban areas as an effort to reduce congestion and air pollution.

So, a number of challenges in developing this aspect need to be resolved immediately. For example, the lack of local government commitment and the lack of facilities and infrastructure to prepare electric bus fleets (charging stations).

“The Ministry of Transportation always prioritizes the adoption of low-emission transportation and improving air quality,” he said in a written statement at the Sustainable E-Mobility Event: Upscaling Bus Electrification Nationwide, Tuesday (21/5/2024).

Budi said that the central government is serious about developing electric vehicles, one of which is by issuing Presidential Regulation (Prepres) Number 79 of 2023 concerning the Acceleration of the Battery-Based Electric Motor Vehicle Program.

On this basis, the Ministry of Transportation is currently preparing a Roadmap for E-Mobility Implementation for the BRT-based mass transportation program in Indonesia.

One of the efforts made is the launch of urban transportation with a buy the service (BTS) scheme using electric fleets in two cities, namely Bandung and Surabaya.

Another program is public transportation in two cities, namely Medan and Bandung, which will be implemented using electric buses.

“In my opinion, one of the components that needs to be considered in electric vehicles is the battery. Therefore, I hope that the ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development) or other interested parties can do research on how to get batteries at an affordable price,” said Budi.

On this occasion, he also received the results of the ITDP Indonesia study regarding the “Road Map and National Incentive Program for Road-Based Urban Public Transport Electrification” to support the acceleration of bus electrification in urban areas.

The ITDP study recommends 11 priority cities for accelerating the electrification of public transportation, namely Jakarta, Semarang, Pekanbaru, Batam, Medan, Bandung, Surabaya, Denpasar, Yogyakarta, Bogor and Padang.

The electrification of public transportation in the 11 priority cities needs to be included in the Draft National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025–2029.