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