'Busway no help in easing traffic congestion'

Despite public skepticism over its plan to introduce the busway system between Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, the city administration is persisting and launched a trial run last week. The Jakarta Post talked to some residents on the issue:

Johan, 60, is a sidewalk vendor at Kota Railway Station in West Jakarta. He lives with his wife and three children in Pasar Ikan, North Jakarta:

I think the project will only favor high-ranking officials in the city administration because they could likely corrupt the budget. I guess it's just Governor Sutiyoso's trick.

The busway is no help to the city's crowded streets. We can see that the thoroughfares cannot accommodate the flow of vehicles every day, let alone the right part of the road is only specified for the busway.

I don't think the busway project could reduce the traffic jam here. It will even make the condition worse. It's just a stupid idea.

I'm sure the traffic will be more severely congested everyday along the Blok M to Kota route. The idea to alleviate the traffic congestion does not make any sense at all.

The traffic jam in the city is so complex that it would not be that easy to solve the problems just by imposing the busway system.

Besides, the project needs a large amount of money, which will come to nothing. It's better to allocate money to improve education or to construct good school buildings in the city.

Education is much more important than the complicated traffic jam which is hardly solvable.

Yanto, 30, is a mobile vendor selling traditional snacks made of rice in West Jakarta. He resides in Krendang subdistrict, West Jakarta:

Basically, I agree with the plan as it is expected to help solve traffic problems in Jakarta.

Well, in a way, the system itself will run smoothly and there will probably be no traffic congestion as the busway will run on a specified lane along the route. There will be more passengers traveling on the busway. The problem is that it might cause other vehicles or public transportation to clog the left and right lanes of the busway.

If the busway worsens the traffic, then we should forget the project.

But we must realize and be ready to accept that our protests will be useless. Poor people like me will always be neglected and victimized. That's simple, isn't it?

Sugiyono, 27, is a job seeker who lives in Senayan, Central Jakarta with his brother. He has just been laid off from a private company in West Jakarta:

I think the busway project is a good idea to the extent that it will reduce the traffic congestion in many parts of the city.

Nevertheless, I realize that the traffic problems are not simply the matter of the congested traffic, but also the volume of private cars and the fact that all thoroughfares in Jakarta are out of the proportional ratio.

I'm of the opinion that the busway system is not a complete solution but rather a partial way out.

I guess the city administration should also consider the city order. In fact, the city order is very poor.

It will be necessary to support the project by making a certain regulation which governs the ownership of private cars.

I wonder why the city administration officials cannot learn about the traffic problems from neighboring countries. Perhaps the citizens are under rigid regulations to own private cars in such a way that the traffic is not troubled by private cars like in Jakarta.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.