New Food Trends in Indonesian Public Transportation

Seeking New Opportunities as Users Plummet Due to COVID-19
Document, Household Goods, and Food Ingredient Delivery Services
History Transformed into Digital Communication Facility

[Asia Economy Jakarta Correspondent Sujin Choi] Indonesian public transportation companies are turning their attention to new business ventures. They are seeking new opportunities as the use of public transportation has declined due to social distancing measures following the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

According to local media such as The Jakarta Post on the 30th, PT MRT, the Jakarta urban railway operator, has decided to introduce delivery services for public transportation as well as online training programs for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. They also proposed utilizing the nearly empty MRT stations, which have seen a decline in passengers, as workspaces by installing digital communication facilities.

PT Blue Bird, a public taxi service company, has also launched 'Bird Kirim,' a delivery service for documents and household goods. This service ensures that important business documents requiring safety and security, or items that could be damaged, are transported by drivers who have received safety training.

The changes among public transportation companies are closely related to the significant shift in social atmosphere following the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in public transportation users has negatively impacted corporate revenues. According to media reports, due to large-scale social distancing measures implemented since April, the number of MRT Jakarta passengers plummeted from an average of 90,000 to 100,000 per day between January and March this year to about 5,000 per day in April and May. However, with the implementation of the New Normal policy easing social restrictions from the 8th of this month, the number of passengers is gradually recovering to around 13,000 per day.

Regarding these changes, Noni Purnomo, CEO of Blue Bird, stated, "This is an alternative to closely respond to the changing business environment," while William Sabanda, CEO of Jakarta MRT, said, "We will focus all efforts on developing alternative services using the public transportation network rather than relying on traditional transportation services."

Indonesia's leading state-owned airline, Garuda Indonesia, has also launched an application called 'KirimAja' in cooperation with PT Aero, an air cargo company, to keep pace with changes in the business environment. Irwan Setiaputra, CEO of Garuda Indonesia, added that they are fully committed to connecting the country's more than 18,000 islands and are developing an app for delivering food ingredients between regions. The Indonesian government has even prepared a bailout draft to support the financial crisis faced by the state-owned airline due to COVID-19.

Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation of Indonesia, said, "The government will formulate a public transportation readjustment plan to align with the New Normal policy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.