The Jakarta administration will next month start paying Transjakarta bus suppliers the operational rates stated in public tenders, which are lower than those proposed by the suppliers, Deputy Governor Prijanto said Friday.

The decision came before the conclusion of negotiations between the city administration, Transjakarta and bus suppliers. The negotiations have been going on since the end of last year.

Prijanto said the decision was made in line with the administration's plan to begin operating articulated buses sometime this month.

"The administration has paid higher rates to bus suppliers for their services on Corridors 4 to 7 from January to April based on past agreements and plans to pay them the same amount until May," he said at City Hall.

"But from June, we'll pay those bus suppliers based on the rates determined by recent public tenders."

He said the administration would continue paying bus suppliers the lower rates from June until new agreements were reached.

The bus consortiums supply buses on Corridors 2 to 7 and charge busway operator Transjakarta for every kilometer their buses travel, according to agreements.

Buses on Corridor 1 (Blok M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta) are owned by the administration.

PT Trans Batavia supplies buses on Corridor 2 (Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta-Harmoni, Central Jakarta) and Corridor 3 (Harmoni-Kalideres, West Jakarta).

PT Jakarta Trans Metropolitan (JTM) owns buses on Corridor 4 (Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta-Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta) and Corridor 6 (Ragunan-Kuningan, both in South Jakarta), while PT Jakarta Mega Trans (JMT) provides buses for Corridor 5 (Ancol, North Jakarta-Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta) and Corridor 7 (Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta-Kampung Melayu).

All corridors use single buses, although Corridor 5 was initially designed to use articulated buses.

JMT has supplied 17 articulated buses for Corridor 5, as mandated, out of the 30 required for the corridor.

The remaining 13 articulated buses will be tender winner PT Lorena's responsibility.

JMT's articulated buses, which can carry twice as many commuters as single buses, have been parked idly for approximately eight months as it is yet to reach an agreement with the administration over operational rates per kilometer the buses travel.

Last year, bus operators Lorena and PT Primajasa won the public tenders to procure Transjakarta buses for Corridors 4 to 7.

Lorena submitted a rate of Rp 16,661 (US$1.78) per kilometer for bus operations on Corridor 5 and Rp 9,443 per km on Corridor 7 .

Primajasa also outbid its competitors in the tenders after offering a rate of Rp 9,536 per kilometer for Corridor 4 and Rp 9,371 per kilometer for Corridor 6.

The bids offered by Lorena and Primajasa have pushed the administration to pay JMT and JTM the same amount offered by both tender winners.

Transjakarta pays JTM Rp 12,885 on Corridors 4 and 6 and pays JMT Rp 12,885 on Corridor 7.