Bogor to retain 'becak' on its roads

BOGOR, West Java (JP): The Bogor authorities are to continue to allow cheap transportation on the town's roads despite the traffic congestion it causes.

"It's a complicated problem. On one hand these public vehicles disrupt traffic, while on the other hand they help feed many mouths," Usman Zakaria, the regent's second assistant told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

The official was responding to whether the town, which lies about 60 kilometers south of Jakarta, would follow the capital's policy of banning becak (tricycle taxis) and delman (two-wheeled horse-drawn buggies).

Jakarta, which dumped its becak into the sea in the late 1980s, now only allows delman to operate in a few restricted areas and plans to phase out bemo (motorized tricycles) soon.

"We have no plans to ban those three types of vehicle," Usman said.

He argued that those vehicles will be phased out gradually instead.

According to Usman there are currently only 50 bemo operating in Bogor, and their licenses come up for renewal every six months.

"If they are still feasible to operate, then those bemo will be allowed to keep operating," he said.

The policy on the becak is to keep the current 996 becak from increasing. "Forty percent of them only operate in the evenings," he said.

Even so, the administration also has a policy to reduce the number of becak by withdrawing the operating licenses of drivers caught violating traffic rules. (21/26)