MRT project: A dream never comes true<\/p>\n
I. Christianto, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The number of people that commute to work in Jakarta during
\nthe day pushes the city's population to 11 million, far higher
\nthan the capital's actual population of about 8.3 million. No
\nwonder that the heavy traffic congestion in the crowded city has
\nbecome an ignominious trademark.<\/p>\n
The government has come up with numerous plans to cope with
\nthe traffic problems but nothing seems to have been effectively
\nimplemented.<\/p>\n
One of the most outstanding projects is the planned
\nconstruction of a mass rapid transit (MRT) system. The plans
\nwere, in fact, unveiled in the early 1990s, but the project was
\ndelayed due to the country's worst-ever economic crisis in 1997.<\/p>\n
The government once promised that the subway project would be
\nstarted in 2001 but unfortunately the year passed without any
\nrealization. Last year, the government again repeated its promise
\nand ensured that the project could be initiated this year.<\/p>\n
Although there are no apparent indications yet if the project
\nwould go ahead this year, the Jakarta administration is still
\noptimistic that the project would get on track. This is,
\ncertainly, good news but hopefully this is not just a dream that
\nwill never come true.<\/p>\n
The project, which is estimated to cost the government about
\nUS$1.5 billion to build, was first announced in 1994. The
\nfollowing year in 1995, the central government, the city
\nadministration and a consortium comprising a number of
\nIndonesian, Japanese and European firms formally signed the
\nmemorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement for the project.<\/p>\n
The project was, however, postponed in 1997 when the regional
\nfinancial crisis hit the Asian region including Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Japanese government has given its commitment to finance
\nthe project, promising a special yen loan with 7.5 percent
\ninterest per year. The special loan package, which would be taken
\nfrom the Miyazawa Plan and the Special Yen Loan Program, would
\nhave a maturity period of 40 years with a grace period of 10
\nyears.<\/p>\n
The central government, however, is reluctant to cover the
\nloan payment despite its support of the project, while the
\nJakarta administration says that paying back all the loan is too
\nmuch. It instead offered to repay half of the loan.<\/p>\n
According to the preliminary plans, the MRT will be
\nconstructed in at least two stages. In the first stage, costing
\naround US$1.5 billion, the MRT will connect Jl. Fatmawati in
\nSouth Jakarta to the National Monument (Monas) in Central
\nJakarta, with 13 stations along the route. It will combine an
\nelevated track and a subway.<\/p>\n
There will be 12.7 kilometers of elevated track from Jl.
\nFatmawati to Senayan, with the possibility of an extension to
\nDukuh Atas in South Jakarta. The route will then continue to
\nMonas via a 2.8-kilometer subway.<\/p>\n
In the second stage, the construction cost of which has not
\nbeen calculated, the MRT would connect Monas and Harmoni in
\nCentral Jakarta and then terminate at the Kota railway station in
\nWest Jakarta. This section would probably be underground.<\/p>\n
The Fatmawati-Kota route is one of the two available options.
\nThe other one is the Grogol-Kemayoran route.<\/p>\n
The Fatmawati-Kota route lies on the North-South line which is
\noften heavily congested with some 170,000 commuters per hour said
\nto be on the route.<\/p>\n
In a rough estimate made earlier by the city administration,
\nthe Fatmawati-Kota subway project could save the city annual
\nlosses of US$900 million caused by traffic congestion.<\/p>\n
A research team from the Japan International Corporation
\nAgency previously calculated the costs of the first stage of the
\nsubway project at some Rp 10.3 trillion (about $981 million at
\nthe current exchange rate) to connect Jl. Fatmawati to Dukuh
\nAtas, and Rp 3.4 trillion for the track from Dukuh Atas to Monas.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has developed as a large metropolitan city with an
\nestimated population of 8.3 million people. If included with the
\npeople from neighboring towns Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi who
\nwork in the capital, the number could reach 11 million people.
\nSocial observers call the latter number the day population, while
\nfirst one is the night population.<\/p>\n
Hasan Basri Saleh of the city's Development Board (Bappeda)
\nsaid that the MRT system was one of the best options to cope with
\nthe traffic problems, given a continued increase in the number of
\nthe population and vehicles in the city.<\/p>\n
In late 1990s, the ratio of population mobility (average
\nnumber of kilometers traveled per person daily) in Jakarta
\nreached between 1.2 and 1.3, an increase from 0.7-0.8 in the
\n1970s.<\/p>\n
"But it means a lot when the ratio is multiplied
\nby some 11 million. And, there was a smaller population in the
\n1970s, so the mobility of Jakartans is now very high," he said,
\nadding with a better economy, people also had a higher mobility.<\/p>\n
He said when the mobility became higher, with some 90 percent
\nof the movement concentrated within Jakarta; there was
\nconsequently urban congestion and traffic jams in the capital.<\/p>\n
With such conditions, public transportation system with
\nhigh frequencies such as an MRT system is necessary, and not the
\none offering high speed.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, many metropolitan areas in the world have
\nMRT systems, which normally carry between 60,000 and 80,000
\npassengers per hour in one direction.<\/p>\n
An MRT or subway system seems the main option for many
\nmetropolitan commuters in the world. Manila, Bangkok, Singapore
\nand Kuala Lumpur, for example, have for years operated their
\nmodern subway railway system to cope with traffic.<\/p>\n
Singapore might be the best example for such a project. The
\nresidential, commercial and business areas as well as main, entry
\npoints and public and entertainment regions are covered by the
\nMRT network.<\/p>",
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