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.