Busway, not the dream come true

Busway, not the dream come true

"You are late for class," my English teacher said, "Sorry,
Miss. There is a lot of traffic on the way to school lately."

This has most definitely become a regular excuse for many of
the people residing in Jakarta. Jakarta is under constant
construction to extend the busway service in the city.
Unfortunately, the infant stage of this mode of public
transportation has brought with it some unpleasant effects.

Many of us are well versed with the traffic problems in
Jakarta. Sitting in long lines of traffic for hours on end,
whiling away valuable time, missing appointments, being late for
meetings and classes, are just a few of the effects of this
infectious disease.

With this in mind city officials came up with the busway as a
remedy. But its construction has only aided in the spread of the
disease.

Construction of busway corridors means taking up at least two
lanes of road, one for the busway itself and the other for the
construction equipment. Narrowing a three-lane road to only a
single lane can cause serious problems. Heavy rush hour traffic
only worsens the problem. Cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles all
try to squeeze into this bottleneck, ultimately causing a jam
that takes at least half an hour to clear.

Once completed, a busway corridor will take up an entire lane
of a road, not only increasing problems for vehicles wanting to
make a U-turn, but also reducing the road space for other
vehicles.

The fraction of traffic reduced by the busway is far less
than the traffic it creates. Another effect of the busway is the
cutting down of trees. The median strip in the Cempaka Putih area
used to be lush with trees, but since it was decided a busway
corridor would occupy this space, the trees have been hacked
away. This makes the district look like an even bigger concrete
jungle.

In my opinion, the government should work toward perfecting
the busway dream to cure the traffic disease. By increasing
awareness as to how the busway can be used, as well as by making
it secure and reliable, it may become a feasible transportation
alternative for many people.

Right now a very small percentage of the people use the
busway, so the number of cars on the roads has not been reduced,
thereby in no way helping the traffic problem. I myself have
never taken the busway and I know of few friends who have! By
increasing public awareness of the system and by ensuring people
know it is reliable and easy to use, the number of passengers
will increase. This would not only increase revenue, but also
help fight the traffic disease.

Another means of making the system more efficient would be to
remove any other forms of public transportation functioning along
the busway corridors. Bajaj, buses and motorcycle taxis take up
the remaining road space, in effect increasing the traffic
problem.

SHAUNAK MAZUMDER
Jakarta