Elevated toll roads for traffic snarls

Elevated toll roads for traffic snarls

Despite the dire crisis by which Indonesia is sadly still
gripped, people still seem to use their cars, to judge by the
ever-present traffic jams. This caused me to think again about a
possible solution that would at least reduce the present load on
inadequate, overcongested roads. Clearly it is not the subway
from Blok M to Kota, one of the then minister of technology, now
President, B.J. Habibie's ideas. This was just another
pretentious scheme for self-aggrandizement (like the quite
unnecessary national airplane), costing many millions of dollars
-- even into the billions.

Looking at a map of London's extensive underground system
covering hundreds of miles and with about 350 stations -- built
up over the past 100 years at a cost, in today's value, of tens
of billions pounds sterling, one sees the Habibie plan would only
cover perhaps eight kilometers, with perhaps half a dozen
stations. Yet even with its underground system, and a very good
network of double-decker buses, London still has a traffic
problem.

Surely a far better answer -- and far less costly -- would be
an elevated (toll) road built along the same line as the subway,
or an elevated railway, like Bangkok, as and when the funds may
be forthcoming.

RB SAWREY-COOKSON

Jakarta