Jakarta traffic nightmare

I read that more toll roads are being planned for Jakarta to solve the traffic problem. This has been shown elsewhere to be ineffective because it just encourages more traffic.

I travel once each week at about 7:30 a.m. south through the area around Blok M to Ragunan and observe that 90 percent of cars traveling north carry just a single driver. Commuting to work by private car is no longer practiced in most large cities.

I offer an alternative suggestion: 1. Shut down half of the parking places currently operating in Jakarta, with promises of more to follow. 2. Limit parking at those remaining to two hours, so that commuters are discouraged from using private vehicles. 3. Reduce the fuel subsidy further and use some of the funds to subsidize buses; but only those that have passed roadworthy and emissions tests.

As a bonus, the off-street parking areas could be converted into low-cost housing, and the outside parking areas could be changed into green areas so lacking here.

PETER EAST Jakarta