Jakarta. Around a third of all buses set to operate during the upcoming mass Idul Fitri exodus do not meet safety standards, a ministry official said.
According to government data, 550 people were killed in more than 2,900 accidents during last year's holiday, still less though than in 2015, which saw 700 deaths in 3,200 accidents.Most of the accidents involved motorcycles.
Ramp checks have already been carried out on 80 percent of around 48,700 buses prepared for this year's mass homecoming, the remaining ones will be examined 10 days before the holiday, at the latest.
Around 17,000 of the buses were not fit for use, said Pudji Hartanto, the director general for land transport at the Ministry of Transportation.
He said in most of them the authorities detected malfunction of brakes, signal lights, speedometers or wipers.
"We requested that they be fixed, then they will undergo ramp checks again ... If they are still not fit, then there's no way they'd be allowed to operate," Pudji said in Jakarta on Friday (02/06).
The number of bus passengers on Idul Fitri this year is expected to reach 4.2 million. This makes buses the fourth most popular means of transportation after airplanes, motorcycles and trains.
Around 19 million people are going to commute across the country ahead of the holiday.
From the Jak Globe 2/6/2017
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za 3 jun 2017 - 12:49
