Heavy rain causes severe traffic jams<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Pouring rain caused not only floods, but also severe traffic jams
\nall over the city, bringing misery to motorists who were stuck
\nfor hours in the congestion.<\/p>\n
Jakartans are used to traffic jams, which occur daily in
\ncertain places. But what happened on Tuesday was more than most
\nwere used to enduring. There were traffic jams in almost all
\nparts of the city -- even areas not usually prone to flood.<\/p>\n
Adi Rajasa, an employee of a private company on Jl. Daan
\nMogot, West Jakarta, said he was trapped in heavy traffic from
\nJl. Daan Mogot, which was inundated by water, to the Glodok area. \"It's really annoying,S he said, RI spent three hours on
\nthe route, while usually only takes 20 minutes.\"<\/p>\n
Another employee of a company on Jl. Kuningan, South
\nJakarta, complained that in the morning, it took her two and a
\nhalf hours from her house in the Cilandak area, South Jakarta, to
\nreach her office, though the roads were not flooded.<\/p>\n
\"The congestion was worse where several policemen blocked
\nthe road to make way for a group of government officialsU cars,\"
\nAnita said.<\/p>\n
To get home, she also had to struggle in massive traffic
\njams.<\/p>\n
\"I left the office at 4:30 p.m. Now, itUs been 45 minutes
\nand I am still stuck on Jl. Mampang Prapatan (which is less than
\nthree kilometers away). I donUt know what time I will arrive
\nhome,\" she said desperately. She eventually arrived home at 7:30
\np.m.<\/p>\n
Traffic jams occured not only during rush hours. From in
\nthe morning until late at night, thousands of private cars and
\npublic transportation vehicles had to crawl along the streets,
\nincluding main thoroughfares such as Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Thamrin,
\nJl. Gatot Subroto. Motorists also had to wait for quite a long
\ntime before they could pass the Semanggi toll gates. But the
\ntraffic on the toll road was no better.<\/p>\n
In North Jakarta, Hesti, who works for a play group in
\nPodomoro, Sunter, grumbled that the heavy down pour had made her
\nlate for work because she could not find any public
\ntransportation in her neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\"I left my home in Plumpang, Tanjung Priok, at 7 a.m. and
\nit was not until at 8:30 a.m. that I got a bus,\" she said.<\/p>\n
According to her, torrential rains had caused Sunter
\nriver to overflow its banks and inundate streets along the river
\nup to her knees.<\/p>\n
No public vehicles were seen passing the streets due to
\nthe flooding, she said. Therefore, she had to go on foot to the
\nmain highway to catch a bus.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people throughout Jakarta were stranded on
\nthe streets waiting for public transportation later in the
\nevening.<\/p>\n
Tuesday was also a really bad day for public
\ntransportation drivers as they earned far less money than usual.<\/p>\n
\"There are traffic jams everywhere. By this time of day,
\nI would usually have earned about Rp 100,000, but now, I only
\nhave Rp 40,000,\" Martius, a taxi driver, said in a high tone.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/heavy-rain-causes-severe-traffic-jams-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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