Experts say three-in-one should stay on the roads

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration should cancel its plan to revoke the three-in-one traffic restriction zone policy as it would only create new problems for the city, experts said on Friday.

Interviewed separately by The Jakarta Post, an expert on transportation engineering, Alan Marino, and an expert on urban planning, who declined to be named, said the administration should instead concentrate on improving the quality of traffic management.

Alan said city residents had become so accustomed to the restricted zone policy that complaints were no longer heard, unlike when the project started in 1992.

"So why should the administration create a new problem, because applying a new (traffic) system is not a simple matter. Actually, there are examples of problems related to urban affairs in the city.

"It has been proven that any policy on urban transportation is always critical but I don't see that the administration has learned from past experiences as they continue to repeat their mistakes, making such hasty decisions," he said.

Alan, a lecturer at the civil engineering department of the University of Indonesia, said that under present conditions there was no other alternative to handling traffic congestion in the city other than improving the public transportation services.

"There is no other way to solve transportation problems in a city with a dense population like Jakarta other than introducing the mass rapid transportation (MRT) system," he said.

He strongly opposed the administration's plan to impose the sticker system to replace the three-in-one policy.

"The sticker system will not solve traffic problems as those who can afford to purchase the stickers use the streets," he said.

An urban planning expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, shared Alan's opinion, saying that the sticker system was merely the administration's way of getting new income.

"The sticker system will also create discrimination in that the streets will be for those who can purchase (the stickers)," he said.

The administration drew public attention recently when it reviewed the restricted zone policy by temporarily revoking the three-in-one system between Feb. 7 and Feb. 25.

The administration considered the three-in-one system as ineffective in handling traffic problems during rush hours as it had encouraged children to act as traffic jockeys.

From the beginning, critics repeatedly said the concept, which was implemented in the city's central business district of Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto from 06:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m on weekdays, would only move the traffic problem to other areas due to the lack of alternative roads to reach the thoroughfares.

The urban planning expert said the administration should prioritize dealing with the traffic jockey problem in order to upgrade the three-in-one system.

"The administration should handle the jockey problem, which is the problem with the restricted zone policy, but not revoke the policy itself," he said.

He added that initially the three-in-one policy was implemented for the sake of the Non-Aligned Movement conference here in 1992.

"It was to improve the image of the city. The authorities did not want conference delegates encountering traffic problems during that time," said the expert, who was a city official when the three-in-one system was introduced. (ind)