Leave the car at home<\/p>\n
While regulations to curb air pollution and the Gubernatorial
\nDecree on smoking have yet to come into effect, Jakartans should
\nbe aware of another clean-air drive called Car Free Day.<\/p>\n
The campaign may be little known to Indonesians, especially
\nJakartans, despite the fact that the capital city has celebrated
\nthe event -- which is celebrated by 100 million people in more
\nthan 1,500 cities in 40 countries every Sept. 22 -- three times.<\/p>\n
To boost the echo of the environmental campaign, dozens of
\npeople gathered on Thursday at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout to
\ndistribute leaflets to motorists, informing them that Car Free
\nDay will be celebrated in Jakarta on Oct. 2. Jl. Sudirman and
\nJl. Thamrin will be closed to private vehicles during the
\ncampaign.<\/p>\n
Car Free Day was introduced in 1998 in France, and is aimed at
\ndecreasing car dependence. The move has become quite popular with
\never more people worldwide aware of its benefits.<\/p>\n
For the people of Canada, Car Free Day has become very popular
\nindeed as they have enjoyed the benefits of the campaign. In
\nMontreal, for example, data recorded from the 2003 campaign
\nindicated that Car Free Day was a success with 40 percent
\nemission reductions, a 10 percent increase in mass transit
\ncommuters and 95 percent of the people surveyed wanted the event
\nrepeated in 2004.<\/p>\n
A similar event in Jakarta was also called a success in 2004.
\nOne day without cars in 2004 in Jakarta saw a 20 percent decrease
\nin air pollution.<\/p>\n
Despite these successes, only a few people seem to be fully
\naware of or informed enough about the heavy costs of automobile
\ndependence. Records indicate there were approximately 70 million
\ncars, trucks and buses in the world in 1950. The number grew by
\nnine times by 1994, or 630 million -- which since 1970 has been
\ngrowing at the rate of 16 million vehicles per annum.<\/p>\n
Experts fear that if this growth continues unabated, by the
\nyear of 2025 there will be over 1 billion motor vehicles on the
\nworld's roads. They consume 37 million barrels of oil a day, or
\nhalf of the world's petroleum consumption. Thus, they are
\nresponsible for nearly half of the world's air pollution and at
\nleast one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, for Jakarta, whose air pollution is mostly
\ncaused by vehicle emissions, significant efforts to curb the
\ngrowth of car and motorcycle ownership have yet to be produced.<\/p>\n
With at least two million cars and 4.5 million motorcycles
\nplying Jakarta's roads each day, the administration must do
\nsomething.<\/p>\n
After producing air pollution regulations and a Gubernatorial
\nDecree on smoking, the administration must work harder to educate
\npeople about Car Free Day. There must be constant and persistent
\nefforts to raise people's awareness of the need of cleaner air.<\/p>\n
The administration should, however, acknowledge that unlike
\nMontreal or Bogota, for example, Car Free Day could become a
\nproblem for car owners in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Cars remain a status symbol and mean independence for most car
\nowners in Jakarta, while the public transportation system is not
\nyet dependable in terms of safety and comfort.<\/p>\n
With the number of cars growing by 7 percent annually -- 15
\npercent for motorcycles -- ground transportation in teeming
\nJakarta will be even more chaotic in the coming years. Poor law
\nenforcement and the absence of control of the growing number of
\nvehicles have been deteriorating the city's ground transportation
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
It is therefore hoped that Car Free Day could become a
\nreminder to the city managers that little has been done to
\nimprove shabby public transportation.<\/p>\n
People should also be made more aware that decreasing car
\ndependence is undoubtedly a great thing to help ease traffic and
\nimprove the environment.<\/p>\n
The green campaign conducted by Jakarta authorities, by
\nmeasuring emissions, is in fact not enough to curb air pollution.
\nAccording to the World Carfree Network, cars -- whether labeled
\nclean, green or otherwise, have become one of the main causes of
\ninjury and death in almost every nation. Motor vehicle traffic
\nkills four times as many people as wars -- 1.26 million people a
\nyear. That is more than 3,000 people killed on the world's roads
\neach day; not even counting the contribution to respiratory-
\nrelated diseases.<\/p>\n
So, let us all try to leave our cars at home just for one day.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/leave-the-car-at-home-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }