City Council approves new on-street parking system
City Council approves new on-street parking system
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Amid criticism from activists and commuters, the City Council
approved on Tuesday the city administration's plan to introduce a
new on-street parking system with prepaid electronic cards. The
pilot project of the new system is to kick off early next month.
The approval came during a hearing between the City Council's
Commission B for economic affairs, and representatives of the
city administration and its business partner appointed to operate
the new system.
Commission B chairman Syarif Zulkarnaen Ginting said the
commission would accept the new system, as it is expected to
increase the disappointing annual parking revenue.
Last year, the city administration set a revenue target of Rp
32 billion from on-street parking, but managed to collect only
about 40 percent of the target, or Rp 13 billion.
Non-governmental organizations urged the administration to
improve its management, saying that a new parking system would
not solve the problem. Commuters also objected, as they were
afraid that they would be charged double: One, by the parking
operator for the electronic parking cards, and two, by the thugs
who often roamed parking lots acting as parking attendants.
Several transportation observers have also criticized the plan
to introduce the new on-street parking system. They said the city
administration should actually reduce on-street parking
gradually, as part of comprehensive efforts to solve the
transportation problem here.
The new system is to be operated by a firm appointed by the
city administration, PT Adiwira Sembada, which has already
prepared 200 portable electronic registers, each costing Rp 17.15
million.
The pilot project will introduce the new system in five
locations initially: along Jl. Agus Salim in Central Jakarta, Jl.
Raden Patah in South Jakarta, Jl. Jatinegara Timur in East
Jakarta, Jl. Bulevar Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta and Jl. Gajah
Mada in West Jakarta.
These five are among the 434 official on-street parking
locations that are to be replaced with the new system.
Based on a city bylaw, the parking rate will still be set at
Rp 1,000 (11 U.S. cents) per hour per automobile.
Commission B Secretary Dani Anwar said that although the
concept of the new parking system was approved, its successful
implementation in the field remains to be seen.
"We should always monitor what happens in the field, as we
often see that the implementation is not the same as the
concept," Dani told the press after the hearing.
Operating Manager of PT Adiwira Sembada Parmusanto said that
car owners could purchase prepaid parking cards of differing
values, and the parking fees would be deducted directly from
these cards.
Parmusanto told The Jakarta Post that car owners could refill
its credit value from head parking attendants and at designated
retail outlets.
He said that the price of the parking card had not yet been
decided on by the company, although the pilot project was due to
begin early next month.
He did not elaborate on where the parking cards would be sold.