Banjarmasin, S Kalimatan (ANTARA) - The Provincial Government of South Kalimantan has received an award from the Ministry of Transportation for public urban transportation management.
Head of South Kalimantan Transportation Agency M Fitri Henardi here on Sunday said that the ministry has assessed the provincial government of being able in shifting and managing the public urban transportation with Buy the Service (BTS) scheme.
Fitri represented the Governor Sahbirin Noor to receive the award at the technical coordination meeting organized by Directorate General of Land Transportation in Jakarta, Thursday (July 11, 2024).
"This is a form of the government appreciation through the mininistry for South Kalimantan's commitment in realizing a comfortable, safe and integrated transportation for the public," said Fitri.
South Kalimantan has been managing the reliable BTS or "Teman Bus" public transportation from December 22, 2021, he said, to serve five regions of the Banjarbakula metropolitan project.
Banjarbakula is an acronym for Banjarmasin City, Banjarbaru City, Banjar District, Tanah Laut District, andBarito Kuala District. This is South Kalimantan metropolitan program as stated in Government Regulation No. 17 of 2017.
In addition to BTS (green and yellow), the South Kalimantan government also provides the Banjarbakula Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with blue color since 2019.
Fitri said that the central government assisted public transportation managed by the provincial government was a commitment to advancing land public transportation.
"Land public transportation plays an important role in supporting people mobility, economic growth, and equitable development," he said.
South Kalimantan government, he continued, is maximizing this through collaboration with the district and city governments, especially Banjarbakula, in the form of special financial assistance for the operational service of BTS in each region.
“The BTS budget sharing pattern between the rpovincial and district/city government as well as feeder management by the Banjarbakula district and city Transportation Agencies will also become an example for other regions. This is in order to revive mass public transportation in Indonesia," said Fitri.
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