Commercialisation of regional-owned enterprises: LRT relies on station utilisation
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia: Komersialisasi BUMD: LRT andalkan pemanfaatan stasiun
27 November 2019
By: Aziz Rahardyan
Bisnis, Jakarta – PT LRT Jakarta is optimistic about the number of Light Rail Transit (LRT) passengers increasing, approaching its inaugural commercial operation on 1 December 2019.
The company relies on the utilisation of available spaces in the station and cooperation with businesses around the station.
PT LRT Jakarta Finance and Business Development Director Rudy Hartono revealed that, despite Jakarta route only spanning 5.8 km, LRT Jakarta benefitted from activities around the crowded station, both on weekdays and weekends. This will be taken advantage of.
Rudy explained that the steps that would be taken include concepting the station to be a support for businesses around the station as well as optimising all spots and retail spaces at every station to obtain non-farebox revenue.
“We have six stations. Not only we will make every station convenient for passengers, but we will also develop [the stations] to be food & beverage areas. With the current length, we have to find the characteristic and the uniqueness of LRT stations,” he explained to Bisnis when he was asked for a confirmation on Tuesday (26/11).
Jakarta LRT Phase 1 has connected Velodrome Station, Equestrian Station, Pulomas Station, Kelapa Gading Boulevard Selatan Station, Mal Kelapa Gading (Boulevard Utara) Station, and Pegangsaan Dua Station.
Rudy is optimistic about this strategy increasing the number of LRT passengers as there are many facilities to fulfil basic needs and sustain people’s lifestyles around the stations. However, LRT Jakarta has yet to reveal the non-farebox revenue target from station utilisation.
“To utilise the spaces, we have invited retails, and there are around 35 business groups that are interested in investing. Meanwhile, we have also proposed a cooperation with banks to fill the spots as a place to provide customer service,” he added.
Previously, PT LRT Jakarta President Director Wijanarko echoed a similar expectation. LRT Jakarta hopes that businesses will want to utilise the six existing LRT stations to support their business activities.
Wijanarko had admittedly cooperated with several parties to utilise LRT stations.
The cooperation is established with fellow PT Jakarta Propertindo subsidiary that manages Velodrome Sports Centre, as well as the management of the main areas around the stations such as PT Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung (JIEP), and the management of International Equestrian Park, which is a facility for horse riding in Jakarta.
By utilising the six LRT stations that are forecasted to be the connector of business and activity centres in the capital city, Wijanarko is optimistic about the ridership of Jakarta LRT reaching 7,000 passengers daily.
“I hope that stakeholders can fill the spaces inside [the station], so that it can be a commercial destination that can support the area,” he explained to Bisnis some time ago.
Furthermore, during the test run from June 2019 to November 2019, LRT Jakarta recorded that the number of Jakarta LRT passengers had surpassed 1 million passengers, with up to 6,528 passengers daily.
Hence, with this strategy, Wijanarko confirmed that his company could meet the expectation of Jakarta Provincial Government that targeted Jakarta LRT transporting 14,000 passengers daily.
Tapping MSME
PT LRT Jakarta Corporate Communication Santy Pradayini revealed that, to fill the retail spaces in the station, LRT Jakarta is opening a registration for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME). There will be a retail tender process and a selection for the potential retail partners that have registered.
“The registration is currently closed, both for MSMEs and retails. Currently we have received registrations from 15 retail partners and 25 MSME. We will not limit the number of registrations for the selection stage, but we only receive participants that are in line with the conditions of the qualification stage,” he explained to Bisnis.
Retails at Jakarta LRT stations must follow several criteria, namely environmentally friendly, low plastic waste, easy and comfortable trading, does not cook with fire nor produces smoke, arranges waste and dirty water accordingly, does not smoke in public spaces, experienced in managing a shop at shopping centres, and willing to follow the regulations of LRT Jakarta.
Santy hopes that the partners will want to innovate and develop with LRT, and that they have experience utilising business spaces of public transportation stations.
Besides that, LRT Jakarta is attracting the public by tapping businesses, tourism destinations, and culinary destinations around the LRT stations and then promoting them through social media.
“We wanted to invite businesses around LRT [stations], but most of them still cooks with fire,” he added.
Internal Survey:
Jakarta LRT Customer Facts During Public Test Run
Total of passengers during test run: +1 million passengers
Average number of passengers: 6,493 passengers daily
Highest occupancy based on time: 05:30PM – 06:30PM (30-35%), 01:30PM-03:30PM (20%), and 07:30AM – 08:30AM (15-20%).
Average number of passengers by month:
Next article: Transit-oriented area: Fate of MRT relies on TOD
