T

he Bekasi administration in West Java is studying the possibility of allowing bajaj (three-wheeled taxis) to operate in the city by the end of this year, an official said.

Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi said the administration has recently been talking with producers of the vehicle and visiting their factories in Pulogadung in East Jakarta, making assurances that the companies had agreed to supply bajaj to the city.

He said providing bajaj as a mode of transportation in the city would be a positive move because the vehicle, which uses natural gas instead of gasoline, was environmentally friendly. “The new transport will only operate around housing complexes so it will not touch upon [the areas] of the existing transports,” he said Wednesday as quoted by wartakotalive.com, adding that the new transport would be prohibited from taking passengers on main roads.

Meanwhile, Bekasi transportation agency head Yayan Yuliana said the new transport would function as a feeders connecting Transjakarta shelters, so residents would no longer find it hard to reach a Transjakarta shelter when traveling in the city.