City urged to involve public is busway plan

City urged to involve public is busway plan

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An activist and urban transportation experts asked the city
administration on Wednesday to involve the public in its endeavor
to fix the transportation problems in the capital, now that the
controversial busway project had been postponed indefinitely.

"They (the administration) must involve the public by making a
consensus on how the transportation woes must be dealt with,
including if the administration intends to continue with the
busway project," said Azas Tigor Nainggolan of the Jakarta
Residents Forum (Fakta).

No matter what sophisticated system was applied to solve
Jakarta's transportation problems, it would be doomed to failure
without public support, he said.

As transportation plays a central role in the life of
Jakartans, a new transportation system would affect their daily
lives, "So, a transportation system like the busway project must
not be developed as an independent system...it must be an
integral part of the entire urban design." Tigor said.

Meanwhile, Jack Sumabrata, an urban transport researcher at a
non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting sustainable
development called Pelangi, regretted the administration's
failure to coordinate with other city agencies in the
implementation of the busway project.

"The poor coordination among the city's various agencies is
very obvious. While the agency had already completed designating
the busway lane and set up supporting traffic regulations, the
trial buses had not even been prepared," Jack said.

Jack also blasted the administration for failing to provide
other policies to bolster the implementation of the busway
system.

"The implementation of the busway project, hopefully, will
change people's habits to using public buses instead of private
cars. But, how could this be realized if no proper pedestrian
walkways are available?" Jack criticized.

Given the fact that many motorists occupied the special bus
lanes, Jack doubted that the special busway lane would be noticed
by reckless motorists.

"I'm afraid we will witness another failure of government
policy," said Jack.

The busway project, worth Rp 85 billion (US$9.4 million) has
been repeatedly postponed, mainly owing to the lack of in-depth
study and public dissemination.

The busway, which is expected to serve a 12.9-kilometer route
from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, will
reportedly include the felling of around 40 trees along the
median strips, which are to be the location of bus stops
occupying the median strips along the route. Bus passengers will
use some 30 pedestrian overpasses along the route to reach the
bus stops in the median strips. Each overpass will be modified in
the middle with staircases leading down to the bus shelter.

Meanwhile, Djamester Simarmata, an urban transportation expert
at the University of Indonesia, said it would be better for the
administration to regulate the existing transportation system in
the chaotic city rather than building a new system entirely.

"If the administration is willing to be serious in dealing
with traffic woes, it must first regulate the chaotic
transportation system to be more ordered and well-organized," he
said.

Djamester referred in particular to the fact that, in the
current chaotic transportation system, big buses and small buses
overlap as they ply the same routes.