Jakarta badly needs modern transit system

Jakarta badly needs modern transit system

By Hartoyo Pratiknyo and Rita A. Widiadana

Getting around Jakarta can be a headache. It may take two hours
for an employee to reach his or her work place and another two to
get home in the evening. On the one hand, city administration has
been struggling hard to curb the continuous increase in the
number of private vehicles and to provide cheap and efficient
public transportation to discourage people from using their
private cars. On the other hand, government policies seem to
favor car owners, as can be seen by the sophisticated toll roads
that encourage private car ownership. The existing public
transportation system is still far from ideal in terms of safety,
comfort, punctuality and convenience. The Jakarta Post tries to
look into the matter through the following story.

JAKARTA (JP): You wake up at 6 a.m. and take a shower. You
have a leisurely breakfast. At 7 a.m. you board your vehicle at
Blok M and be at your office in downtown Kota half an hour later.

A dream? Of course -- for now. But when, or if, plans to build
a modern mass transit system (MRT) for Jakarta get underway, that
dream could turn into reality before the decade is over.

For at least the past couple of decades, the need for such a
modern transport system for Indonesia's capital city has been
well enough understood. For all these years, no matter how often
the authorities launch their orderly-traffic campaigns, no matter
how many new rules and regulations are introduced and no matter
how many new roads are built or enlarged, Jakarta's traffic
snarls continue to grow worse, almost by the day.

Often, the argument is heard that the number of cars in this
city continues to grow at a rate that far outpaces the growth of
its road network. Appeals are made for commuters to use buses,
instead of private cars, to commute to and from work. All to no
avail, for reasons that must be obvious to anyone who has ever
boarded a bus in Jakarta during peak hours. Anyone who can afford
it would certainly prefer to drive a private car, jams or no
jams.

So, zones of restricted traffic are introduced around the
city's busiest business areas -- the so-called "three-in-one"
zones -- where, during morning peak hours, cars are prohibited
from entering unless they carry at least two passengers besides
the driver. In response, hordes of "jockeys", street urchins who
appear along the streets from seemingly nowhere to offer their
services as momentary passengers to motorists intent on beating
the law.

It seems that finally people have begun to realize there is no
cheap or easy way out of Jakarta's chronic traffic and
transportation problems. People are beginning to heed a piece of
advice which city planners and transportation experts have been
offering for decades: An effective mass rapid transit system, or
MRT, capable of transporting at least a million commuters a day,
is the only option that can at least ease the burden which this
city's roads now have to carry. Jakarta's road system was never
designed to serve the demands of a budding modern metropolis.

Mere outgrowth

Recent as it may appear in certain parts of the city,
Jakarta's road network, as it exists at present, is actually a
mere outgrowth of the old pre-World War II system, which was
designed to serve the needs of a population of no more than
300,000 to 400,000 people.

After the war, when Jakarta became the national capital of the
newly independent Indonesian republic and the influx of people
from the provinces began, little was done to anticipate the
coming explosion of the city's population.

Major thoroughfares were enlarged and new roads and toll roads
were built in the most strategic areas but, in essence, it was
the same old system which had to carry the severe burdens of
modern traffic. The situation in Kota, Jakarta's main business
district, provides a good illustration.

Before World War II, when Jakarta was still the Dutch colonial
capital of Batavia, the district of Weltevreden, which was the
city district around the present Menteng and Gambir (Monas)
areas, was the main (elite) residential area, while banks and
other business offices were mostly centered in the downtown Kota
area. Both areas were connected by thoroughfares -- the present
Gajah Mada and Hayam Wuruk streets flanking the Ciliwung river.

Over the decades, residential areas such as Menteng have
become overcrowded and new residential neighborhoods have sprung
up around it. At the same time the volume of business that is
done daily in the Kota area has increased tremendously. As a
consequence, traffic along both thoroughfares has increased
manifold. Yet, the only expansion of the system came many years
ago in the form of enlargements towards the sides of the two
streets. The emergence of new business districts outside Kota has
not helped much to lighten the burden along Jl. Gajah Mada-Jl.
Hayam Wuruk.

The magnitude of the pressures that are being placed on
Jakarta's road system can be easily grasped by looking at a few
statistics. By the time of the outbreak of World War II, Jakarta
had a population of approximately 300,000. By 1970, 30 years
later, it had grown to almost 4.5 million. In 1980 there was more
than 6.5 million people living in the city. Today, Jakarta's
population is estimated to have reached the 10.6 million mark.

In step with the growth of its population, Jakarta experienced
a phenomenal growth in the number of vehicles plying its roads.
Official records show that, to date, not less than 1.5 million
motor vehicles are registered in this city. More than 3,500 large
and 4,800 medium-size buses are in operation, as well as
approximately 10,000 mikrolets (mini-vans), 17,900 taxis and
15,100 bajaj (tri-carts). During busy hours, an average of at
least 20,000 cars pass Jl. Jenderal Sudirman alone. What makes
the problem worse is that 86 percent of all those vehicles are
private cars, 11 percent are freight cars and a mere 2.6 percent
are public transportation vehicles.

Combine all those factors with the reality that the cost of
expansion is sure to get higher with the passing of each year and
the logic of opting for an either elevated, or underground, mass
rapid transit system will be evident. The problem is, the
authorities have so far been unable to decide which system to
adopt. This is not very surprising since a number of criteria
will have to be met, aside from feasibility and cost.
Punctuality, comfort and affordability are obviously important
considerations besides the capability of transporting a large
number of people at any one time.

Three systems

As of today, it seems that three systems are in consideration.
The first proposal, submitted by Citra Lamtorogung, involves the
building of a three-tiered integrated system of highways,
railroads and toll roads to be built between Lebak Bulus, Blok M
and Kota, and another between Cempakaputih and Tanah Abang. The
second proposal, submitted by the Japanese firm Itochu, is for a
subway to be built between Blok M and Harmoni, linked to a
surface track from Harmoni to Kota. The third, submitted by Citra
Patenindo, proposes building an "aeromovel" system of elevated
wind-powered trains between Blok M and Kota.

To judge by various statements made by officials lately, it
seems that the subway system stands, for the present, as the
greatest chance of being adopted. But on whatever system the
choice may finally fall, building will probably start this year.
If so, and barring any further delays, Jakarta may finally boast
a modern MRT system by the end of the decade. That it certainly
deserves. After all, all things considered, the Indonesian
capital city is already decades late in coming to a decision.