Minister supports traffic sticker plan

Minister supports traffic sticker plan

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Communications Giri Suseno
Hadihardjono said yesterday the city administration should use
the funds to be raised from the implementation of its traffic
sticker system to improve public transportation.

"That's the purpose of any road pricing," Giri told a media
conference.

"The city administration must be committed to using the funds
raised from the implementation of the system to improve its
public transportation facilities," he said.

He noted that the central government was currently using most
of its resources to overcome the economic crisis and that it
lacked funds to help the city improve its public transportation.

Governor Sutiyoso, meanwhile, urged people yesterday to
establish a kind of independent body to control the
implementation of the sticker system, if they doubted it.

The body could control activities, ranging from its
implementation to the use of the collected funds for the sticker
sales.

"If the problem is about trust, everybody can make corrections
or monitor that the funds from the ticket sales are really
channeled to improve public transportation.

"I have repeatedly promised that the system is merely aimed at
improving public transportation and I have many times promised
you that there will be transparency (in the management)," he told
a separate media conference which was closed without reporters
being allowed to ask any questions.

The sticker plan requires people wanting to travel along Jl.
M.H. Thamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to buy stickers at Rp 5,000 (40 U.S.
cents) for a one-day entry and Rp 80,000 monthly.

The system, which will go on trial from August to November,
will replace the three-in-one traffic regulation introduced in
1992 to tackle the capital's chronic traffic congestion. The
latter system requires private vehicles to carry at least three
people when entering the restricted area from 6:30 a.m. to 10
a.m..

The three-in-one system is considered to have been largely
ineffective in easing traffic congestion.

Under the sticker system motorists will be required to display
valid stickers on their windshields if they wish to enter the
restricted zone.

Sutiyoso stressed yesterday that the tariffs of Rp 5,000 for a
one-day entry and Rp 80,000 monthly were not final as was
reported earlier. The system is still being proposed to the City
Council, he said.

Council speaker Edy Waluyo echoed Sutiyoso's remarks, saying:
"We haven't yet decided anything. During the (Monday) meeting
with officials of the city administration, we just listened to
explanations on the plan. We will discuss it later to form a city
bylaw".

Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi told
reporters Monday that the city council agreed with the tariff
levels.

Commenting on a suggestion to set a cheaper tariff of about Rp
500 or Rp 1,000, Sutiyoso strongly rejected the idea. "I don't
agree with the proposal. That's so cheap it's like buying fried
bananas. All people will buy stickers, then the traffic
congestion will still be there."

Sutiyoso also said yesterday that before deciding to adopt the
system the administration had made comparative studies with other
countries and invited experts on transportation from Japan,
Singapore, Australia and the U.S. to give their views on the
matter.

"We then conclude that the sticker system is the most proper
one. However I regret current media reports which tend to create
a bad image and exploit the system's negative side. Of course any
system has a good and bad side.

"I should stress again here that the target of the system is
wealthier people whose money through the purchase of the tickets
will subsidize poor people.

"I am not willing to ask the poor people to pay, even as much
as Rp 100. I am just asking them not to enter the restricted
areas during the restricted times," he said. (ind/jsk)