MM FEB UI Public Lecture with the Minister of Transportation: Mobility in the Midst of the Pandemic
Nino Eka Putra ~ PR FEB UI
DEPOK – (24/9/2021) The Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia, Budi Karya Sumadi became a resource person in the Public Lecture of the Master of Management Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (MM FEB UI), with the topic “Mobility in the Midst of a Pandemic” online, on Friday ( 24/9/2021). The moderator of this lecture is Prof. Rofikoh Rokhim, Ph.D., Head of the MM FEB UI Study Program.
The Rector of Universitas Indonesia, Prof. Ari Kuncoro, Ph.D., in his speech, said “I give my appreciation to Minister Budi Karya Sumadi who has taken the time to give a Public Lecture at MM FEB UI. I also thank the audience for their willingness to take part in this public lecture.”
As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Indonesia for almost 1.5 years. The most significant change occurred in the pattern of community mobility as a form of reaction to the spread of Covid-19. Google Covid-19 Community Mobility Report creates a community mobility report that is mapped based on movement trends over time based on geography. Data on the mobility of DKI Jakarta residents as of September 15, 2021 shows that there is a change or decrease compared to the previous one year period, namely retail and recreation (-20%), grocery stores and pharmacies (+3%), public transportation (-38%), and workplace (-34%). “With this, MM FEB-UI held a public lecture discussing ‘Mobility in the Midst of the Pandemic’, with the hope of adding insight and understanding to the various policies carried out by the Ministry of Transportation regarding changes in people’s mobility patterns as a result of the pandemic.” said Rector Ari in Jakarta at the end of his speech.
In his presentation, Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that transportation infrastructure is a benchmark for interaction between regions and their role in supporting the development process of a region. In this case, transportation is a benchmark for development in various aspects of people’s lives, including economic, social, health, and so on.
Indonesia’s economic growth projection with business as usual is 6.1% in 2024. However, with investment in infrastructure and education, it is expected that the Indonesian economy will grow to 6.5% in 2024. The transportation sector must have better quality to support agglomeration, increasing productivity and accessibility of the labor market, and opening up new markets for business.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the function of transportation has grown rapidly. In addition to driving the economy, transportation can also limit the spread of Covid-19. For example, the government conducts restrictions in several areas, regulates the conditions of travel.
“The paradigm shift and transportation mobility in the post-pandemic or new normal period by implementing strict health protocols provide security and comfort. In addition, transportation must have humanitarian principles. This means that transportation must contain aspects of being healthy, clean, humane, comfortable, and safe.” said Minister Budi.
As a new normal macro policy effort in the Covid-19 era, the government implemented a health protocol for passenger and goods transportation (including warehousing operations), the implementation of a public transportation occupancy limit policy that does not exceed 75% of the maximum capacity to ensure physical distancing, encouraging the creation of working hours that are flexible so that passenger traffic does not collect at certain times (previously there were 2 peak hours, namely morning and afternoon), work from home, shift-based work schedules, and flexible leave are recommended, implementation of hygiene protocols (regular cleaning of fleets and other facilities, and management of air circulation in the fleet), financial support provided by the government followed by efficiency measures and cost restructuring such as cutting executive salaries to eliminating bonuses and dividends, no more manual ticket bookings and payments using e-money (for KRL and busway), giving real time information to look at the number of passengers on the bus/train so that prospective passengers know whether to apply physical distancing or not.
“Throughout 2020 until now, the Ministry of Transportation has issued 2 Ministerial Regulations and 12 Circulars to regulate mobility during the pandemic. With a standard operating procedure (SOP) in the form of booking tickets that can only be done at the head office or branch of the public transportation operator, the public transportation operator is required to ensure that prospective passengers meet the requirements according to the BNPB Circular Letter. Transportation crew/personnel must wear masks and gloves and have a negative Covid test certificate, and passengers must always wear masks during the trip.” said Minister Budi, in closing the session.
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