It's now or never<\/p>\n
Weeks after being reelected as governor of Jakarta for the
\nsecond time, Sutiyoso has yet to come up with a clear plan to
\ndeal with the city's traffic and ground transportation system.<\/p>\n
For example, he does not seem to be doing anything about a
\nspecific plan to remedy the traffic chaos in the capital city,
\nbut about the continuation of the construction of the 52-
\nkilometer segment of the uncompleted Jakarta Outer Ring Road
\nproject, which was halted due to the economic crisis. However, as
\nmany observers have suggested, constructing new toll roads is a
\nshort-term solution that will not cure the city's perennial
\ntransportation illness.<\/p>\n
Transportation expert Djamester Simarmata, for instance,
\nbelieves that the construction of new toll roads would only
\nencourage people to buy their own cars, rather than use public
\ntransportation, one obvious reason being that public transport is
\nconsidered unsafe and uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the city administration has failed to formulate
\na grand plan to respond to the traffic problems despite its
\nawareness that an integrated transportation system is needed.<\/p>\n
At the end of the 1980s the paradigm of city development
\nchanged and the Jakarta administration started talking about
\ndeveloping the city along its east-west axis instead of north-
\nsouth, as had been the case up to that point. Unfortunately, the
\nroad and transportation system was never properly developed to
\nmatch the growth of residential neighborhoods and office
\nbuildings.<\/p>\n
In the late 1980s, a former official at the Ministry of Public
\nWorks who was working for a company owned by President Soeharto's
\ndaughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, introduced a plan for an
\noverhead monorail commuter train service, called an \"aeromovel\"
\nsystem, utilizing Brazilian technology.<\/p>\n
With 34 terminals at certain locations, the train would have
\nbeen able to carry about 15,000 passengers per hour. Supported by
\nanother mode of transportation on the feeder lines, the aeromovel
\nwould ply the Blok M-Kota (south-west and south-north) route.<\/p>\n
The aeromovel integrated system was expected to answer the
\nneed for a mass rapid transit system for Jakarta at that time.<\/p>\n
However, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of
\nTechnology (BPPT), which at that time was chaired by B.J.
\nHabibie, did not seem to approve of the plan, which it deemed
\nill-suited for Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Later, in the early 1990s an O-Bahn Rail Bus system, to be
\nbuilt with German technology, was offered to solve the city
\ntransportation chaos. The O-Bahn would also serve the Blok M-Kota
\nroute. With a 30 second interval between departures, the bus
\nwould be capable of carrying about 10,800 passengers per hour.<\/p>\n
The city administration looked interested in the O-Bahn bus
\nsystem, which is also used in Essen, Germany and in Adelaide,
\nAustralia. Despite these two promising offers, the city
\nadministration and the Ministry of Transportation have used
\nneither of them even as traffic has grown more and more chaotic
\nby the day.<\/p>\n
As things stand at present, Jakarta's traffic system is
\ndeteriorating. Constant traffic congestions, which inflict some
\nRp 2.67 billion in daily losses for motorists, continue to occur.
\nObviously, such a situation cannot be allowed to remain
\nuncorrected. And the figures do not include losses suffered by
\nthose who are forced to be late to their offices due to the
\ncongestion.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, at present, has 6,500 kilometers of road to
\naccommodate some four million cars and motorbikes. While the
\nnumber of vehicles increases from day to day, the length of the
\ncity roads apparently remains stagnant. The result is that the
\ncity's roads, including the urban toll roads, can no longer
\naccommodate the number of vehicles.<\/p>\n
Jakarta's urban toll roads, which are designed to accommodate
\nonly 65,000 cars a day, are now used by at least 200,000 cars per
\nday. Building new artery roads seems impossible. There is no more
\nopen space left in Jakarta, which is already overcrowded with
\naround 12 million daytime residents. The city administration must
\nrevive its plan to establish an integrated transportation plan
\nwhich involves a mass rapid transit system (MRT), using the most
\nsuitable and affordable technology.<\/p>\n
It is now or never. It is no exaggeration to say that the
\ncurrent uncertain security situation combined with the constant
\ntraffic congestions are not only a headache for Jakarta's
\nresidents, but are also a factor that could deter prospective
\ninvestors from planting their money in this city.<\/p>\n
If the city administration fails to establish an appropriate
\nintegrated transportation system for Jakarta, we will surely face
\nmore serious problems in the future. In the next one or two
\ndecades the situation could become even more complicated with the
\nnumber of vehicles increasing at an uncontrollable rate.<\/p>\n
Ofyar Z. Tamin, a Bandung-based transportation expert,
\nsuggested that the existing railway system must also be improved
\nand made into a part of the integrated transportation system.<\/p>\n
While selecting the best technology to be used for the MRT
\nsystem and seeking financial sources to fund the project, the
\ncity administration must do everything it can to solve traffic
\nproblems by clearing vendors and illegal parking areas from the
\ncity streets.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/its-now-or-never-1447893297",
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