Little hope in sight<\/p>\n
Traffic does reflect the culture of the people, many say.
\nThose visiting the capital city for the first time may be shocked
\nto experience the chaotic vehicle traffic situation.<\/p>\n
There are practically no laws in effect on the roads. The
\nbigger the vehicle, the stronger they are and the bigger the
\nright of way they will demand on the roads.<\/p>\n
Private cars must give way to speeding public buses with
\njostling passengers on board. Usually, the private cars' drivers
\nhave no courage and no will to scold the bus drivers or their
\nassistants.<\/p>\n
Another surprising phenomenon that is gradually accepted as
\n\"normal\" is motorcycles emerging as new forces that are to be
\nreckoned with on the roads.<\/p>\n
At night, groups of motorcycles speed and roam the roads
\nwithout lights, terrorizing other road users. In case of a crash
\nwith a car, the motorcyclists will blame the car driver, and
\nlocal residents where the accident takes place may join the
\nmotorcyclists.<\/p>\n
There seems to be an odd agreement among our people today that
\npublic bus crews, motorcyclists and pedestrians represent poor
\npeople while those in cars represent the well-off.<\/p>\n
We witness traffic violations everyday and almost every where
\nin the city. Yet, only a few violations are dealt with by the
\ntraffic police.<\/p>\n
Given all this, Jakartans seem to have no choice but to take
\nthe daily pressures in their lives with little hope that someday
\nthe administration will do something proper to provide them with
\na humane traffic system.<\/p>\n
Worse still, the city administration seems to be unaware of
\nthe latest survey reports, which say that the traffic flow in
\nJakarta has increased 10 times what it was in 1985.<\/p>\n
The survey conducted by the Japan International Cooperation
\nAgency (JICA) found that commuter trips to work made by Jakartans
\nhad increased 9.4 times since 1985, when a similar study took
\nplace for the first time. According to the study, there Jakarta's
\ncommuters made 716,000 trips this year compared to just 76,300 in
\n1985.<\/p>\n
Another survey earlier found that the urban toll road is now
\nused by 200,000 cars per day, however it was only designed to
\naccommodate 65,000. These figures explain why traveling from one
\nplace to another is getting more complicated and takes longer
\neach day.<\/p>\n
Some people say that traffic congestions in Jakarta has
\nexceeded all tolerable limits. Traffic congestion has disrupted
\nall aspects of life. From an economic point of view, the constant
\ncongestion inflicts a total of Rp 2.67 billion in daily losses,
\nnot to mention the use of more fuel by the vehicles. The fact
\nthat people are forced to be late at work has also affected
\nproductivity and increased stress among workers.<\/p>\n
In terms of environmental damage, the more vehicles are
\noperating, the more polluted the city air will get.<\/p>\n
During the fasting month of Ramadhan traffic congestion has
\nput extra pressure on family life in this city. Those who, in the
\npast, needed only 30 minutes to drive home from work to break the
\nfast with their families have had to spend more than one hour to
\nreach home. Most of them must miss the meal at home as they are
\nstill on the roads.<\/p>\n
We assume that the city administration has been ignorant of
\nabout the chaotic and inhumane traffic.<\/p>\n
The plan to continue the construction of the Jakarta Outer
\nRing Road seems to be the city administration's best remedy for
\nthe traffic headaches. But constructing new roads will only
\nencourage people to buy new cars.<\/p>\n
The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, which is said to be the
\nbest mode of public transportation for Jakarta, is still being
\ndebated, but is far from reality. Under present circumstances,
\nthe project will be too expensive.<\/p>\n
The key to the lingering problem is the leadership and the
\ngovernment's political will.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso seems to lack vision and has no grand
\nscenario to deal with the traffic problems. During his first
\ntenure, he had five years to demonstrate his commitment to solve
\nJakarta's traffic problems. He should have offered an integrated
\nsystem to remedy the traffic chaos. He failed to use that chance.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso regained his gubernatorial seat last month.
\nUnfortunately, we see no hope that he will offer a brilliant
\nconcept or formula to cure the traffic and ground transportation
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
We are worried that if no prompt and proper action is taken by
\nthe city administration, in the next five years most of Jakarta's
\nroads may be like parking lots with thousands of vehicles trapped
\nin severe traffic jams all day long.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/little-hope-in-sight-1447893297",
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