Jakarta's planned monorail trains: New but not the aspirin

Jakarta's planned monorail trains: New but not the aspirin

In the original plan Jakarta monorail trains were intended to
connect Jakarta and its outlying areas of Bekasi in the east and
Tangerang in the west, but the dedicated scheme was altered
because the Jakarta administration had to bow down to investors'
wishes.

Urban analysts deplored the decision because construction of
the monorails would not address properly transportation in the
capital, one of many urban problems.

In the agreed plan the trains are to serve only the two
busiest areas in the capital where offices and shopping centers
are mostly to be found.

The investors, PT Indonesian Transit Central (ITC) and its
Malaysian partner M. Trans Holdings, see the planned monorail as
a lucrative business because the trains would attract large
numbers of passengers, as the train stations would be integrated
with other public transportation modes like buses and
conventional trains.

Investors claimed the original scheme, which connected Jakarta
with the outlying areas of Bekasi and Tangerang, was economically
unfeasible.

Marco Kusumawijaya, a noted urban planner, said the city
administration should not have totally accommodated the wishes of
the investors because it had to look to the public interest too.

If there is still time, the administration must ask for
investment in less crowded areas so that the monorail system can
expand its coverage.

"It's a kind of cross-subsidy. Profits from lucrative
businesses can be used to subsidize operational costs at less
crowded areas. With such a mechanism, the monorail would serve
more people," Marco told The Jakarta Post recently.

Construction is planned to start in January and is expected to
be completed within three years. One of the lines is expected to
be finished before Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso leaves office in
2007.

In the tender the investors injected some US$540 billion to
construct the project. The total distance of the two lines is 27
kilometers.

The first line is the 14.8-kilometer circular line, named the
"green line." It will serve the capital's golden triangle area of
Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan.

The "green line" will serve 16 stations. They are: Senayan
Sports complex, Plaza Senayan, Jakarta Convention Center, Taman
Ria Senayan, the House of Representatives/People's Consultative
Assembly building, Pejompongan, Karet, Sudirman, Setiabudi,
Kuningan, Taman Rasuna, Casablanca, Gran Melia, Satria Mandala
Museum, Jakarta Police Headquarters and the Jakarta Stock
Exchange as the coverage area.

Second is the 12.2-kilometer "blue line" connecting Kampung
Melayu in the eastern part of Jakarta and Roxy in the west.

This line will serve 13 stations: Kampung Melayu bus terminal,
Tebet, Saharjo, Menteng Dalam, Casablanca, Ambassador, Dharmala
Sakti, Menara Batavia, Karet, Kebon Kacang, Tanah Abang, Cideng
and Roxy.

In Kampung Melayu, the monorail station will have an
interchange with the crowded bus terminal. Monorail trains there
will enjoy feeder services from large, medium and small-size
buses connecting the area with various locations in the city.

At Tebet, the monorail will be integrated with a conventional
railway station, with trains that run to Bogor and Kota.

At Sudirman or Duku Atas station, the monorail will be fed
with passengers from the bus rapid transit (BRT) system and
commuter trains coming from Serpong and Bekasi.

Nearly all the other monorail stations will be located in busy
area of Jakarta.

The monorail and BRT, popularly known as the busway, are two
projects that have been put to tender by Sutiyoso to overcome the
chaotic traffic problems in the city. The projects are believed
to be the answer to the increasing number of private cars that
are blamed for the worsening traffic congestion.

The plan to construct a monorail system in the city was no
less controversial than the previous BRT plan. City councillors
and local activists gave a cold shoulder to the BRT plan as they
questioned its effectiveness in addressing Jakarta's severe
traffic congestion.

"How will middle-class people, who own private cars, be
persuaded to use the busway if there is no reliable public
transport from the area close to their homes?" asked chairman of
the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) Aza Tigor Nainggolan.

Unlike the BRT the planned monorail received less criticism
because the "footprint" of the monorail will not occupy existing
roads. The rails will be elevated, but will the system really be
aspirin for the city's traffic headache, for the trains will
operate within a limited area. -- Bambang Nurbianto