Integral urban transport, land use and air quality

Integral urban transport, land use and air quality

Lalu A. Damanhuri, Infrastructure Planning & Development Specialist
Committee for Infrastructure Development Policy (KKPPI), Jakarta

Busways or segregated bus lanes are lanes primarily for bus
operation, and are physically separated from other traffic by
medians and barriers with grade separation or priority at
intersections. In general, they are the most cost-effective means
of transportation, with a demand of up to 20,000 passengers per
peak hour per direction.

The Jakarta metropolitan area, called Jabodetabek -- covering
Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi -- with 10,000 square
kilometers, has 21.6 million inhabitants spread irregularly over
five municipalities, which are dominated by Jakarta with 8.4
million inhabitants.

Jabodetabek generates roughly 12 percent of the country's GNP
and is considered the most important economic region of
Indonesia. Each day, 29 million person trips take place in
Jabodetabek, of which 10.6 million are walking trips. Sixty-nine
percent of the motorized trips are by private automobile
(1,023,000 cars and 419,000 motorcycles), while the remaining 31
percent are by bus and train.

This level of urban transportation activity, dominated by
road-based motorized modes, has a significant impact on the
Jabodetabek environment. Despite an existing 150-km rail network,
the lack of integration between the trains and the suburban
vehicle discourages more trips, in favor of buses and the
automobile, creating heavy congestion during peak hours which
significantly increases home-to-work trip times.

In the Jakarta metropolitan region, any decisions on major
policies are likely to have a direct impact on land use and air
quality. Similarly, different patterns of land use will also
determine the type of transportation systems which can better
serve the Jabodetabek population. The government and the core
municipality (Jakarta) must be well aware of the
interrelationships between urban transportation, land use and air
quality, and should explore different scenarios for Jabodetabek
urban transportation systems.

The evaluation of different packages of infrastructure
policies (such as higher fuel taxes and parking fees, area
traffic restraint schemes -- three-in-one areas -- and integrated
multimodal fares) were crucial to arriving at an integrated urban
transportation, land use and air quality strategy. Furthermore,
decision-makers know that while the interlinking of the rail-
based network would attract bus and auto users, thereby reducing
road congestion, it is necessary to ensure that the rail stations
are accessible through a combination of infrastructure which
includes not only roadways and busways but also motorcycle ways
and safe walkways.

Indeed, the role of non-motorized transport cannot be
underestimated since high percentages of all trips in
Jabodetabek are made on foot, and there is a high accident rate
among pedestrians. Decisions to use quieter and cleaner vehicles
have a direct impact on noise and air quality. Likewise,
decisions to enforce the inspection and maintenance of road
vehicles are likely to impact the air quality of the Jabodetabek
area.

Measures to discourage private car and motorcycle use and
encourage the use of public transport are essential to reducing
traffic congestion and controlling urban sprawl. In Jakarta, the
lack of quality public urban transportation has delayed effective
road demand management policies. As an essential complement to
transportation demand management, public transportation should be
made faster, safer, more comfortable and more convenient.

The objective should be as soon as possible to make public
transportation attractive not only to lower-income classes but
also to middle and upper-income users, who are the main users of
the automobile. In Jakarta, public urban transportation is still
seen as a low to middle-income transportation mode.

Appropriate design of roads, intersections and traffic
controls can eliminate bottlenecks, accommodate public
transportation and smooth traffic flow at moderate costs. The
Jakarta metropolitan realizes that busway development must be
done in conjunction with effective traffic management. Otherwise
the road space saved is occupied by more automobile traffic and
there is no reduction in traffic congestion.

Some new toll roads, flyovers and underpasses, carefully
targeted to relieve bottlenecks and accommodate public
transportation, are probably essential, but should be developed
only as part of an integrated plan. Planning should encourage
urban forms which minimize transportation needs, encourage non-
motorized transportation (cycling, walking) and allow for
efficient public transportation service. Land-use will determine
the most adequate urban transportation mode.

These can dramatically reduce air pollution, noise and other
environmental impacts of road transportation. The strategy should
also provide for continuous updating and monitoring of
effectiveness, by means of an ongoing process of vehicle
emissions and traffic measurement, updating of emissions
inventory, and transportation and air quality modeling.

An integrated program, incorporating all of these elements,
will be required to achieve the long-term goals set by the
government and Jabodetabek's Integrated Transportation Master
Plan. For example, building new roads, flyovers and underpasses
in the absence of measures to limit transportation demand and
improve traffic flow may simply result in more roads full of
traffic jams.

Similarly, strengthening public transportation will be
ineffective in the absence of transportation demand management to
discourage car and motorcycle use, and traffic engineering to
give priority to public transportation vehicles. Both new road
construction and efforts to strengthen public transportation
must, moreover, be coordinated with land use planning and
regulation, to ensure efficient use of new networks. The strategy
must take into account the land use patterns and zoning
regulations defined in the master plan.

Disincentives to the continued growth of automobile use in the
city such as the introduction of congestion pricing and other
demand management measures, will require a parallel improvement
in public transportation service. Since road transportation is a
major source of pollution, all proposed transportation policies
should be evaluated based on their contribution to reduction of
noise, air pollution and accidents as well as moving people.

For instance, reduction in noise and air pollution could be
supported by transportation proposals that would preclude the
circulation within the Central Business District of
environmentally inefficient buses by an agreed target date. This,
in turn, would require the development of transfer points at the
fringes of this area to allow the older buses to continue to
operate from the outlying areas, discharge their passengers and
return.