Jakarta may claim traffic a trademark

Jakarta may claim traffic a trademark

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For Pieter, who works in Central Jakarta, traveling the 2.5
kilometers from the Semanggi cloverleaf to the Hotel Indonesia
traffic circle every day is 30 to 45 minutes of pure torture.

"But at nights, after 10 p.m., it only takes about five
minutes to travel the same distance," he said on Wednesday.

Going to a shopping center on the weekend with his wife and
son is also a trial, with traffic jams and a lack of parking
testing his patience.

Pieter is just one of very many private car owners in Jakarta
who frequently find themselves caught in the capital's notorious
traffic. Currently, there are 2.5 million private cars and 3.8
million motorcycles struggling along the city's 7,500 kilometers
of road.

According to the Jakarta Police -- which registers vehicles in
Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok -- the number of private
cars in Greater Jakarta increases by between 300 and 500 vehicles
every day, while the number of motorcycles grows by between 1,200
and 1,500 each day.

"The length of roads in Jakarta is clearly not sufficient for
the number of vehicles. But adding more roads will not
necessarily solve the problem," said Brig. Gen. (ret) Sony
Suharsono on Wednesday on the sidelines of a talk show titled
Traffic Jams: Who's Guilty?. Sony formerly served as head of the
Traffic Police for both the Jakarta Police and the National
Police.

During the opening of the busway earlier this year, Governor
Sutiyoso warned that traffic would come to a standstill in
Jakarta by 2014 if people continued to buy cars.
 "Every day Jakartans buy 138 new cars while the length of the
roads is reduced by 800 meters," he said, adding that about
600,000 vehicles from Tangerang, Bekasi, Bogor and Depok entered
the capital every day.

Experts estimate the chronic congestion costs the economy
about Rp 41.05 billion (US$4.41 million) per day.

Sony said Jakarta was in dire need of an integrated traffic
system comprising new infrastructure, education for commuters,
enforcement of regulations and a database of vehicles and
drivers.

Transportation observer Darmaningtyas pointed out the lack of
discussion among the city administration, the city police and
public representatives on how to solve the problem. He identified
the spatial planning agency, parks agency, transportation agency,
public works agency, the police and public transportation
businesspeople as relevant parties in any such discussions.

Sony slammed those in charge for decades of failure in
building an integrated traffic system.

One sign of the lack of communication, the traffic police have
in the past criticized policies passed by the administration with
no previous consultation.

A police officer asked not to be identified complained about
traffic arrangements around a new mall in Central Jakarta.

"The mall management and the city administration did not ask
for our opinion on how the building would affect traffic. Now
that the traffic around the mall is getting worse on a daily
basis, we have to step in to help them," the officer said.