Heaptalk, Jakarta — Ahead of the 79th Indonesian Independence Day celebration on August 17, the government is accelerating the provision of advanced mass transportation infrastructure in Nusantara Capital (IKN), including preparing advanced transportation systems such as autonomous rail transit (ART) and flying taxis.
“The Proof of Concept (PoC) or trial of the Urban Air Mobility or Sky Taxi transportation mode will be conducted at the end of this month at Samarinda Airport,” said Mohammed Ali Berawi, Deputy for Green and Digital Transformation at the Nusantara Capital Authority, in Jakarta on Thursday (07/18).
Meanwhile, China’s ART will begin trials in early August 2024. This aligns with the transportation’s scheduled arrival in IKN at the end of July. He said, “The PoC for the trackless train will also start in the first week of August, ahead of the Independence Day celebration on August 17, on the main axis route of the KIPP (Central Government Core Area) IKN.”
However, Ali could not confirm when these transportation modes will be fully operational in IKN. Evaluations will be conducted first, following the trials, depending on the recommendations’ results. “The PoC funding is borne by the technology providers themselves (shipment, equipment installation, operation during PoC, etc.). After that, the technology procurement will still be conducted openly and competitively,” he added.
On this occasion, Ali mentioned visiting the Port of Long Beach as part of the Smart City Reverse Trade Mission (RTM) activities in the United States on Wednesday (05/01). This visit discussed the development of a green port and urban intelligent transportation systems.
