Jakarta a huge metropolis with traffic congestion to match
Jakarta a huge metropolis with traffic congestion to match
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta is the one metropolis in Southeast Asia without a clear
transportation policy as evidenced here daily by the hectic
traffic jams.
There are so many horror stories about how residents have to
get up at dawn just to get to their workplace or school on time
without being caught in the traffic jams.
Many attribute this condition to the fact that there is an
extremely high number of private vehicles -- some 4 million
private cars and motorcycles -- registered in the city.
With registered Jakartans numbering more than 8 million
people, this figure means that there is one vehicle for every two
residents.
But of course less than half of Jakartans own a private
vehicle. On the other hand, there are many residents who have a
small fleet of cars at their disposal.
Despite the high number of private vehicles, public
transportation is still always crowded and packed, especially
during peak hours.
Compared to the private vehicles, the number of public
transport vehicles seems like a minor fleet.
Jakarta has some 25,000 taxis operated by more than 30
companies while City Transportation Agency's data reveals that
there are at least 4,530 large buses, 4,978 medium-sized buses
and 11,848 public minivans. About 40 percents of the buses,
however, could not operate due to their poor condition.
The public vehicles are to serve the majority of the
population plus those living in the nearby cities and regencies
of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.
These cities and Jakarta form an entity known as Jabotabek or
simply Greater Jakarta, with a total population of some 20
million.
The large number of vehicles here cannot move in a comfortable
way because there is a very limited road network of some 6,500
kilometers (km) in Jakarta or some 41.5 square km of area,
according to the City Public Works Agency.
As a rule of thumb, according to experts, a city needs some 10
to 30 percent of its area to be dedicated to roads. Hence, with a
total land area of some 650 square km, Jakarta needs an absolute
minimum of 65 square km and ideally some 195 square km of roads.
Unfortunately, Jakarta has only managed to reach two-thirds of
the absolute minimum required.
Financial constraints have become the city administration's
most expedient excuse for its failure to increase the number of
roads here.
Statistically speaking, the administration has only been able
to provide about 1 percent growth of road networks in recent
years, which is far behind the increase vehicle numbers, which
ranges from 8 percent to 12 percent per year.
The construction of flyover bridges or underpasses, for
example, can significantly reduce congestion caused by traffic
lights at busy intersections but there are more things needed to
ensure a smooth flow of traffic.
However, once a flyover bridge (or an underpass) is built
bypassing an intersection, others must also be built down the
line to prevent a bottleneck of vehicles at the next
intersection.
Building more flyover bridges of underpass also requires
money, which obviously the administration is unwilling to
allocate.
Five projects started in September, while the construction of
three others began in 2001. The one in Penggilingan, East
Jakarta, has been just completed. Unfortunately, the other
construction projects are behind schedule, adding to the city's
traffic woes.
Another thing that worsens traffic jams are the street
vendors, which clog most roadsides.
They usually operate in or near strategic places such as busy
intersections, markets and terminals and many have their stalls
on sidewalks and even occupy the road itself, obstructing the
traffic flow.
Even the construction of toll roads cannot guarantee smooth
traffic in the long term.
The government's decision to continue the halted Jakarta Outer
Ring Road (JORR) project this year drew both praise and criticism
on whether JORR would be able to solve Jakarta's chaotic traffic
problem.
Toll roads can offer a partial solution in the short term as
it adds to the total amount of road networks. However, it is just
like giving pain killers to cure cancer.
The comprehensive answer, however, still has to be found for
the long term.
The presence of a mass rapid transit (MRT) could be the answer
to the chronic problems of traffic congestion while at the same
time would reduce air pollution. A tentatively proposed MRT could
carry some 40,000 passengers per hour in a given direction.
But an MRT itself is not capable of solving traffic congestion
without being connected to other modes of transportation to carry
the passengers to their final destinations.
The absence of good feeder networks would mean that the
commuters would essentially be stuck at MRT stations.
Each MRT exit would likely become another source of traffic as
dozens of undisciplined public transport drivers would wait for
passengers, blocking the traffic again.
In other words, an integrated transportation system is a must.
And Jakarta should work in cooperation with the administration of
the other cities in Greater Jakarta.
Jakarta stated its plan for an MRT project many years ago, but
complains about lack of funding and nothing gets done.
In 1995 a Japanese, European and Indonesian consortium planned
an MRT project which would span 15 kilometers from Jl. Fatmawati
in South Jakarta to Kota area in West Jakarta.
The project, estimated to cost more than US$1.5 billion, was
estimated to be completed within five years.
The Japanese government had given its commitment to finance
the project. But it was postponed when the financial crisis hit
Indonesia in mid-1997. The project was halted also because the
Japanese government reportedly felt concerned about the security
here.
The amount of money to build the system is obviously large,
but in the long run, it is expected to give benefits for all of
the city residents. A rough estimate made by the city
administration showed that traffic congestion inflicts losses of
US$900 million annually. This does not include the stress and
other problems such as getting to work late and lost
productivity.
Governor Sutiyoso vowed that the project would start during
his second-term, but there has been no elaboration about when it
would actually begin. The only thing has been done was that the
city administration allocated last month a place at the City Hall
as a joint office with the Japanese consortium.
And in 2002, instead of realizing the plan, the city
administration was busy discussing the controversial busway
project. They promised that the busway would have been
operational by last December. But it is later postponed until at
least eight months due to "technical problems".
The original plan was to provide a special lane designated for
buses along the main thoroughfare from Blok M to Kota.
It was calculated that the busway system would carry some
10,000 to 27,000 passengers per hour in a single direction.
It was initially estimated that the project would cost Rp 50.8
billion, but last week, the administration said it would be
increased to Rp 90.25 billion.
While it is clear that the planning of the busway system is
poor, its effectiveness still remains to be seen.
Poor planning is actually common within the administration.
The paradigm of the city development has changed about two
decades ago when the administration started to develop the city
along its east-west axis instead of north-south. The road and
transportation systems, however, were never properly developed to
match the growth of residential neighborhoods and office
buildings.
Unfortunately, we will still have to endure horrendous traffic
congestion in the capital for many more years until the
administration gets its act together.