Bike to work 'if you want to reduce pollution'

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta

Hoping to convince more Jakartans to use bicycles, a group of cyclists held a Bike to Work event along Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta on Friday after working hours.

The event, organized by the Indonesian Mountain Biking Community (MTB Indonesia), was aimed mainly at employees working in offices along Jl. Sudirman, a main thoroughfare in the city. The group hopes to convince the office workers to start riding their bicycles to work and leave their cars at home.

"Anyone can see that air pollution and congestion in the capital is worsening each day due to the overuse of cars and motorcycles," said the chairman of the event's organizing committee, Hendro Poernomo. "By riding a bicycle for the daily commute, you can help reduce pollution."

Poernomo said that in the long run, the group would propose to the Jakarta administration to set aside a slow lane along Jl. Sudirman exclusively for bicycles one working day a week.

"In the end, cyclists hope to see a permanent bicycle lane citywide, so they can ride their bikes conveniently and safely."

He acknowledged that such a vision was still a long way off, with the city administration only very recently paying attention to the needs of pedestrians by widening sidewalks along parts of Jl. Thamrin.

Poernomo said even in cities where there were bicycle lanes, such as Yogyakarta and Surakarta, the lanes were dominated by motorcyclists.

Many participants in Friday's event said they hoped it would inspire office workers to get on their bikes.

Carrin Garimurti, 25, an employee at a private company on Jl. Ampera Raya in South Jakarta, said she always rode her bicycle from her home in Kebayoran Lama to her office for the exercise.

Nurfarida, a 50-year-old employee at the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Jl. Gatot Subroto, also rides her bicycle the three kilometers from her home on Jl. Menteng Atas to her office.

"As long as it is under 10 kilometers, I prefer to ride my bike," she said.

During the Bike to Work event, some 70 cyclists took off from in front of the Bank Danamon tower. All of the cyclists were office workers and some were still wearing their work clothes.

The cyclists went through the Sudirman Central Business District, past the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Jl. Gatot Subroto and made a U-turn at the Semanggi cloverleaf.

Then they rode along Jl. Sudirman, went around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and returned to the Bank Danamon tower. The route was about 20 kilometers in distance and took about an hour to complete.