It's now or never
It's now or never
Weeks after being reelected as governor of Jakarta for the
second time, Sutiyoso has yet to come up with a clear plan to
deal with the city's traffic and ground transportation system.
For example, he does not seem to be doing anything about a
specific plan to remedy the traffic chaos in the capital city,
but about the continuation of the construction of the 52-
kilometer segment of the uncompleted Jakarta Outer Ring Road
project, which was halted due to the economic crisis. However, as
many observers have suggested, constructing new toll roads is a
short-term solution that will not cure the city's perennial
transportation illness.
Transportation expert Djamester Simarmata, for instance,
believes that the construction of new toll roads would only
encourage people to buy their own cars, rather than use public
transportation, one obvious reason being that public transport is
considered unsafe and uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, the city administration has failed to formulate
a grand plan to respond to the traffic problems despite its
awareness that an integrated transportation system is needed.
At the end of the 1980s the paradigm of city development
changed and the Jakarta administration started talking about
developing the city along its east-west axis instead of north-
south, as had been the case up to that point. Unfortunately, the
road and transportation system was never properly developed to
match the growth of residential neighborhoods and office
buildings.
In the late 1980s, a former official at the Ministry of Public
Works who was working for a company owned by President Soeharto's
daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, introduced a plan for an
overhead monorail commuter train service, called an "aeromovel"
system, utilizing Brazilian technology.
With 34 terminals at certain locations, the train would have
been able to carry about 15,000 passengers per hour. Supported by
another mode of transportation on the feeder lines, the aeromovel
would ply the Blok M-Kota (south-west and south-north) route.
The aeromovel integrated system was expected to answer the
need for a mass rapid transit system for Jakarta at that time.
However, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of
Technology (BPPT), which at that time was chaired by B.J.
Habibie, did not seem to approve of the plan, which it deemed
ill-suited for Jakarta.
Later, in the early 1990s an O-Bahn Rail Bus system, to be
built with German technology, was offered to solve the city
transportation chaos. The O-Bahn would also serve the Blok M-Kota
route. With a 30 second interval between departures, the bus
would be capable of carrying about 10,800 passengers per hour.
The city administration looked interested in the O-Bahn bus
system, which is also used in Essen, Germany and in Adelaide,
Australia. Despite these two promising offers, the city
administration and the Ministry of Transportation have used
neither of them even as traffic has grown more and more chaotic
by the day.
As things stand at present, Jakarta's traffic system is
deteriorating. Constant traffic congestions, which inflict some
Rp 2.67 billion in daily losses for motorists, continue to occur.
Obviously, such a situation cannot be allowed to remain
uncorrected. And the figures do not include losses suffered by
those who are forced to be late to their offices due to the
congestion.
Jakarta, at present, has 6,500 kilometers of road to
accommodate some four million cars and motorbikes. While the
number of vehicles increases from day to day, the length of the
city roads apparently remains stagnant. The result is that the
city's roads, including the urban toll roads, can no longer
accommodate the number of vehicles.
Jakarta's urban toll roads, which are designed to accommodate
only 65,000 cars a day, are now used by at least 200,000 cars per
day. Building new artery roads seems impossible. There is no more
open space left in Jakarta, which is already overcrowded with
around 12 million daytime residents. The city administration must
revive its plan to establish an integrated transportation plan
which involves a mass rapid transit system (MRT), using the most
suitable and affordable technology.
It is now or never. It is no exaggeration to say that the
current uncertain security situation combined with the constant
traffic congestions are not only a headache for Jakarta's
residents, but are also a factor that could deter prospective
investors from planting their money in this city.
If the city administration fails to establish an appropriate
integrated transportation system for Jakarta, we will surely face
more serious problems in the future. In the next one or two
decades the situation could become even more complicated with the
number of vehicles increasing at an uncontrollable rate.
Ofyar Z. Tamin, a Bandung-based transportation expert,
suggested that the existing railway system must also be improved
and made into a part of the integrated transportation system.
While selecting the best technology to be used for the MRT
system and seeking financial sources to fund the project, the
city administration must do everything it can to solve traffic
problems by clearing vendors and illegal parking areas from the
city streets.