JAKARTA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation is seeking to strengthen urban mass transportation networks as part of efforts to ease the country's annual fuel subsidy burden, an official said Thursday.
The ministry's director general of land transportation Aan Suhanan said the transportation sector absorbed about 90 percent of the government's annual fuel subsidies, which stood at around 300 trillion rupiah (about 16.77 billion U.S. dollars). He added that transport costs currently accounted for 30 to 40 percent of household income.
He said the current imbalance had led to longer travel times, traffic congestion, air pollution and difficulties for people in reaching schools and workplaces. The government is therefore developing urban mass public transportation systems in 20 key cities under the 2025-2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan.
He added that the ministry was also facilitating the digitalization of local transport services through applications designed to improve operational management and ensure public transport operators meet minimum service standards. ■