Surabaya City, East Java, will receive in stages a total of 34 electric buses from the Ministry of Transportation starting from mid-December of 2022.

Head of the Transportation Office of Surabaya City Tundjung Iswandaru stated here on Thursday that those electric buses were earlier used to support the G20 Summit in Bali on November 15-16, 2022.

“It has been planned that Surabaya will receive around 34 units, but in stages,” he remarked.

According to Iswandaru, the city will receive 25 buses first in mid-December 2022, while the rest will arrive in 2023 in stages.

He explained that the operation of the electric buses is carried out through a cooperation contract mechanism between the Directorate General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation and the bus operator, in this case, the state-owned bus operator DAMRI.

Iswandaru noted that the city government had proposed the Purabaya Terminal-Kenjeran Park route and the Benowo Street-Tunjungan Street route for the operation of the electric buses.

He explained that the choice of the route starting from the Benowo area is related to the upcoming implementation of the 2023 U-20 World Cup to support connectivity to the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (GBT).

“During the World Cup, they (electric buses) can be connected to GBT,” he remarked.

He affirmed that the city government is ready to fully support the operation of the electric buses in Surabaya. Meanwhile, regarding the technical operation, later, it will be coordinated with the operator in stages.

He expressed optimism that the operator of the electric buses would employ local drivers in the city for the operation.

“Later, when it is already near (to the launch), we will conduct dissemination (of information) and soft launch first. The hope is the shift from (the use of) private vehicles to public transport will be even better,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News