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.