City transit system needs breakthrough

JAKARTA (JP): A transportation expert of Trisakti University urged the city administration yesterday to adopt a clear-cut megapolitan strategy on transportation and urban development to help solve problems of the chronic congestion in the city.

F. Trisbiantara, a lecturer of the university's civil engineering and planning school, said in a one-day seminar on transportation that failure to adopt a suitable transportation system would have the city facing chaotic transportation problems.

"It is important for the city administration to choose an appropriate system to help solve traffic congestion, which forces motorists to spend much of their time on the roads every day," Trisbiantara said.

The seminar, which was opened by Deputy Governor for Government Affairs Idroes, was held by Trisakti University in cooperation with Mott Mac Donald International, PT Djasa Ubersakti, PT Dayatama Intratechnika Nusantara, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and MS TRI 104.4 FM radio station.

Trisbiantara reiterated that current congestion problems will worsen if the administration does nothing and just lets the current transportation system run the way it is.

According to him the current transportation system in the city is inconsistent, and that once a particular strategy is adopted the administration should be consistent in its implementation.

He also pointed out that the city public transportation services are poor and unreliable.

"Therefore it is also important to improve the quality of the city mass transportation means," Trisbiantara said.

Meanwhile, Idroes said that the city administration has planned a city mass rapid transit system to accommodate commuters until 2015. The first stage of the system is to build a 13-km subway system between Blok M and Kota.

"The city administration realizes that traffic constitutes the biggest problem in the city," Idroes said. (yns)