Will 2004 usher in new traffic woes?<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Traffic in Jakarta has been a chronic problem for years. The
\ncapital's 7,500 kilometers of roads cannot accommodate its
\napproximately 4.7 million vehicles -- of which only 315,000 are
\npublic transportation vehicles.<\/p>\n
To overcome the problem, the city administration has proposed
\nthe implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), or busway
\nsystem, and an elevated monorail to encourage its citizens to
\nswitch from private vehicles to public transportation.<\/p>\n
The poor service from public transportation companies,
\nhowever, might deter commuters from their use.<\/p>\n
For example, the most expensive city buses -- supposedly air-
\nconditioned and limited in passenger capacity -- turned out to be
\nthe same as regular intercity buses, with passengers forced to
\nstand during peak hours amid the never-ending congestion. The
\ntickets, however, still cost Rp 3,500 (41 U.S. cents), whereas
\nregular buses charge Rp 1,200.<\/p>\n
A similar scene can be seen on commuter trains -- diesel or
\nelectric -- but with passengers preferring to sit atop the cars
\nbecause of lack of seating inside. Several people have been
\nkilled by electrocution, while others have died from falling off
\nthe roof.<\/p>\n
The central government's policy allowing modified, large
\nvehicles to enter the market has worsened traffic in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Luxurious and expensive cars can be seen driving along the
\ncity's major thoroughfares daily, while residents on the
\noutskirts of Jakarta enjoy cruising in affordable motorcycles.<\/p>\n
Can the busway or monorail system replace private vehicles?<\/p>\n
The question was raised when the city started constructing
\nshelters and lane dividers for the busway, which will take up one
\nlane of the already jammed roads from Blok M, South Jakarta, to
\nKota, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Even before the officiation of the busway, scheduled for Jan.
\n15, Jakartans are suffering from the heightened congestion caused
\nby the new structure.<\/p>\n
To alleviate some of the congestion, private vehicles have
\nbeen advised to take four alternative roads paralleling the
\nbusway lane. The administration and police are clearing these
\nroads from street vendors and illegally parked cars.<\/p>\n
With only 56 buses available -- currently being assembled in
\nMagelang, Central Java -- to transport around 60,000 passengers,
\nmany doubt that the busway, which has a capacity of only 20,000,
\nwill solve traffic problems without creating more.<\/p>\n
However, the city is guaranteeing feeder services to transport
\npeople from residential areas to the Blok M or Kota bus terminal
\nand along the corridor.<\/p>\n
With a fee of Rp 2,500 per passenger, residents are wondering
\nhow much additional costs the feeder services would entail.<\/p>\n
Ticket prices for feeders services will be Rp 2,900 for Zone
\nA, inside Jakarta, and Rp 3,800 for Zone B, outside Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The administration has also decided to extend and expand the
\nthree-in-one traffic policy, which rules that a car must have at
\nleast three passengers when traveling in a particular area during
\ncertain hours.<\/p>\n
The policy -- currently applied to vehicles entering Jl.
\nSudirman and Jl. Thamrin during the morning rush hour from 6:30
\na.m. to 10 a.m. -- will be expanded to cover the 12.9-kilometer
\nbusway route. The city will also extend the policy to the evening
\nrush hour, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
The three-in-one policy is considered a failure, as many
\nmotorists pick up joki -- people who offer services to pose as
\npassengers for a minimal fee -- in order to enter the restricted
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Before the busway materialized, Governor Sutiyoso had already
\nsigned a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia's M Trans
\nHolding for the construction of a 27-kilometer, dual-line
\nelevated monorail.<\/p>\n
The monorail is to connect Bekasi to the east and Tangerang to
\nthe west of the capital.<\/p>\n
M Trans Holding and PT Indonesian Transit Central have
\ninvested some US$540 billion in the project.<\/p>\n
One of the lines is a 14.8-kilometer circular line, called the
\nGreen line, which is to serve the capital's golden triangle area
\nof Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan.<\/p>\n
The Green line will serve 16 stations: Senayan Sports complex,
\nPlaza Senayan, the Jakarta Convention Center, Taman Ria Senayan,
\nthe House of Representatives, Pejompongan, Karet, Sudirman,
\nSetiabudi, Kuningan, Taman Rasuna, Casablanca, Gran Melia, Satria
\nMandala Museum, Jakarta Police Headquarters and the Jakarta Stock
\nExchange.<\/p>\n
The other line, the 12.2-kilometer Blue line, is to connect
\nKampung Melayu to the east and Roxy to the west.<\/p>\n
This line will serve 13 stations: Kampung Melayu bus terminal,
\nTebet, Saharjo, Menteng Dalam, Casablanca, Ambassador, Dharmala
\nSakti, Menara Batavia, Karet, Kebon Kacang, Tanah Abang, Cideng
\nand Roxy.<\/p>\n
In Kampung Melayu, an interchange will connect the monorail
\nwith the bus terminal. Monorail trains there will enjoy feeder
\nservices from large, medium and small buses for intercity
\nconnections.<\/p>\n
In Tebet, the monorail will be integrated with a conventional
\nrailway station that serve Bogor-Kota trains.<\/p>\n
At the Sudirman or Duku Atas station, an interchange will link
\nthe monorail with busway and commuter train passengers from
\nSerpong and Bekasi.<\/p>\n
Most of the other monorail stations will be in downtown
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
However, the ambitious plan has been slammed by analysts and
\nexperts because a monorail had never been mentioned in the city
\ntransportation development plan. It was not even included in the
\nJakarta macro-transportation draft plan, which is the main
\nreference for the development of the transportation system.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta macro-transportation plan has been designed to
\ndevelop transportation until 2020. Under the plan, the busway
\nwill form the backbone of public transportation by 2007, before
\nthe city develops other mass rapid transit systems like subways
\nand other rail-based transportation.<\/p>\n
By the end of 2007, Jakarta plans to have at least seven
\nbusway corridors and seven more will have been completed by the
\nend of 2010.<\/p>\n
The development of railways, including the expansion of its
\nexisting network, is scheduled to kick off in 2007 and is
\nexpected to finish in 2020.<\/p>\n
The macro-transportation plan also sees rivers as an
\nalternative. Of the 13 rivers flowing through the capital, the
\nWest Flood Canal and the East Flood Canal currently being
\nconstructed are key to developing a 43.8km water transportation
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
All these plans, however should not raise ivory towers for the
\nadministration -- they must listen to the people who use public
\ntransportation and roads every single day, before deciding upon
\nthe most appropriate plan.<\/p>\n
The launch of the busway on Jan. 15 will be the real test for
\nthe administration in developing its macro-transportation system.
\nShould it fail, the administration must think of a wiser way to
\novercome traffic woes in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
I-box
\nBasic facts on Jakarta transportation:
\n* 700,000 people from the 12.6 million Greater Jakarta population
\ntravel to Jakarta every day
\n* Number of vehicles : 4.97 million
\n* Number of private cars: 1.5 million
\n* Number of motorcycles: 2.79 million
\n* Number of public vehicles: 315,000
\n* 82 percent of private cars take only two passengers
\n* A single bus has a maximum capacity of 60 passengers
\n* A bus passenger uses 0.75 square meters of road space
\n* A private car passenger takes up 3.3 sqm of road space
\n* Private vehicles occupy 88 percent of road space
\n* Public vehicles occupy 12 percent of road space
\n* Traffic jams occur along 81.3 percent of feeder roads
\n* Health cost caused only by particulate molecule (PM10)
\npollutants reached Rp 5.79 trillion in 1999<\/p>\n
From various sources<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/will-2004-usher-in-new-traffic-woes-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }