Skip to main content

Commuters in Indonesia can exchange used plastic bottles for free bus trips

The city of Surabaya, Indonesia, is giving free bus rides to commuters who provide used plastic bottles as part of a strategy encourage recycling. This initiative is expected to serve the city’s ambition to eliminate plastic waste by 2020. Citizens can travel on red city buses by dropping off plastic bottles at terminals or can use the bottles to pay for their fares. Reuters says a two-hour bus ticket costs ten plastic cups or up to five plastic bottles, depending on their size. Labels and bo
October 31, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The city of Surabaya, Indonesia, is giving free bus rides to commuters who provide used plastic bottles as part of a strategy encourage recycling.

This initiative is expected to serve the city’s ambition to eliminate plastic waste by 2020.

Citizens can travel on red city buses by dropping off plastic bottles at terminals or can use the bottles to pay for their fares.

%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Reuters false https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-environment-plastics-bus/plastic-to-ride-indonesians-swap-bottles-for-bus-tickets-idUSKCN1MX1OD false false%> says a two-hour bus ticket costs ten plastic cups or up to five plastic bottles, depending on their size.

Labels and bottle caps from the collected bottles are auctioned off to recycling companies. The money earned goes towards running bus operations and funding green spaces in the city in Java, Indonesia’s main island.

Irvan Wahyu Drajad, head of Surabaya’s transportation department, says Indonesia is one of the biggest contributors to plastic waste in the world.
 
“Through this initiative, we hope to raise public awareness on the environment, especially issues that relate to plastic trash,” Wahyu Drajad adds.

Related Content

  • July 10, 2019
    Careem offers transport for Saudi Arabia hospitals
    Careem is to provide a transportation service to patients travelling to and from Saudi German Hospitals (SGH) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SGH is a provider of healthcare services located in the Middle East and North Africa region with hospitals located in areas such as Egypt and Dubai. Makarem Sobhi Batterjee, vice chairman, SGH, told the Saudi Gazette: “This agreement will help pave the way in addressing our patient’s transportation needs.” As part of the agreement, patients will receive 20%
  • August 7, 2019
    Moovit: Gut feelings no match for data
    Cities that bring in mobility services without data might be missing out on areas where demand is highest. Ben Spencer talks to Moovit’s Alon Shantzer about how the company is helping customers to pinpoint the right locations Launching mobility services without taking into account public transportation data can lead to chaos in cities. That’s the view of Alon Shantzer, vice president international sales at Moovit, the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) provider and transit app. “The data we have can define
  • April 23, 2018
    Need for co-operation highlighted at MaaS Market Atlanta conference
    City authorities worldwide need to work more closely together to shape the future of on-demand transportation services. Such co-operation could help reduce congestion and pollution, and improve the lives of citizens - that is the view of leading international experts who will be addressing MaaS Market – Concept to Delivery – the third Mobility as a Service (MaaS) conference to be run by ITS International.
  • January 31, 2019
    Austria issues highest fines for violation of diesel bans, says study
    Austria imposes the highest fines in Europe for violating diesel bans and low-emission zones, according to new research. Austrian authorities charge up to €2,180 for violators – the next highest is the UK, with fines up to £1,138. Auto parts company Kfzteile24 based its findings on data from UrbanAccessRegulations.eu and its map offers a comparison between 350 cities across Europe. The overview outlines examples of vehicles already affected by low-emission zones and driving diesel bans - and those likel