MRT project: A dream never comes true

MRT project: A dream never comes true

I. Christianto, Contributor, Jakarta

The number of people that commute to work in Jakarta during
the day pushes the city's population to 11 million, far higher
than the capital's actual population of about 8.3 million. No
wonder that the heavy traffic congestion in the crowded city has
become an ignominious trademark.

The government has come up with numerous plans to cope with
the traffic problems but nothing seems to have been effectively
implemented.

One of the most outstanding projects is the planned
construction of a mass rapid transit (MRT) system. The plans
were, in fact, unveiled in the early 1990s, but the project was
delayed due to the country's worst-ever economic crisis in 1997.

The government once promised that the subway project would be
started in 2001 but unfortunately the year passed without any
realization. Last year, the government again repeated its promise
and ensured that the project could be initiated this year.

Although there are no apparent indications yet if the project
would go ahead this year, the Jakarta administration is still
optimistic that the project would get on track. This is,
certainly, good news but hopefully this is not just a dream that
will never come true.

The project, which is estimated to cost the government about
US$1.5 billion to build, was first announced in 1994. The
following year in 1995, the central government, the city
administration and a consortium comprising a number of
Indonesian, Japanese and European firms formally signed the
memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement for the project.

The project was, however, postponed in 1997 when the regional
financial crisis hit the Asian region including Indonesia.

The Japanese government has given its commitment to finance
the project, promising a special yen loan with 7.5 percent
interest per year. The special loan package, which would be taken
from the Miyazawa Plan and the Special Yen Loan Program, would
have a maturity period of 40 years with a grace period of 10
years.

The central government, however, is reluctant to cover the
loan payment despite its support of the project, while the
Jakarta administration says that paying back all the loan is too
much. It instead offered to repay half of the loan.

According to the preliminary plans, the MRT will be
constructed in at least two stages. In the first stage, costing
around US$1.5 billion, the MRT will connect Jl. Fatmawati in
South Jakarta to the National Monument (Monas) in Central
Jakarta, with 13 stations along the route. It will combine an
elevated track and a subway.

There will be 12.7 kilometers of elevated track from Jl.
Fatmawati to Senayan, with the possibility of an extension to
Dukuh Atas in South Jakarta. The route will then continue to
Monas via a 2.8-kilometer subway.

In the second stage, the construction cost of which has not
been calculated, the MRT would connect Monas and Harmoni in
Central Jakarta and then terminate at the Kota railway station in
West Jakarta. This section would probably be underground.

The Fatmawati-Kota route is one of the two available options.
The other one is the Grogol-Kemayoran route.

The Fatmawati-Kota route lies on the North-South line which is
often heavily congested with some 170,000 commuters per hour said
to be on the route.

In a rough estimate made earlier by the city administration,
the Fatmawati-Kota subway project could save the city annual
losses of US$900 million caused by traffic congestion.

A research team from the Japan International Corporation
Agency previously calculated the costs of the first stage of the
subway project at some Rp 10.3 trillion (about $981 million at
the current exchange rate) to connect Jl. Fatmawati to Dukuh
Atas, and Rp 3.4 trillion for the track from Dukuh Atas to Monas.

Jakarta has developed as a large metropolitan city with an
estimated population of 8.3 million people. If included with the
people from neighboring towns Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi who
work in the capital, the number could reach 11 million people.
Social observers call the latter number the day population, while
first one is the night population.

Hasan Basri Saleh of the city's Development Board (Bappeda)
said that the MRT system was one of the best options to cope with
the traffic problems, given a continued increase in the number of
the population and vehicles in the city.

In late 1990s, the ratio of population mobility (average
number of kilometers traveled per person daily) in Jakarta
reached between 1.2 and 1.3, an increase from 0.7-0.8 in the
1970s.

"But it means a lot when the ratio is multiplied
by some 11 million. And, there was a smaller population in the
1970s, so the mobility of Jakartans is now very high," he said,
adding with a better economy, people also had a higher mobility.

He said when the mobility became higher, with some 90 percent
of the movement concentrated within Jakarta; there was
consequently urban congestion and traffic jams in the capital.

With such conditions, public transportation system with
high frequencies such as an MRT system is necessary, and not the
one offering high speed.

As a matter of fact, many metropolitan areas in the world have
MRT systems, which normally carry between 60,000 and 80,000
passengers per hour in one direction.

An MRT or subway system seems the main option for many
metropolitan commuters in the world. Manila, Bangkok, Singapore
and Kuala Lumpur, for example, have for years operated their
modern subway railway system to cope with traffic.

Singapore might be the best example for such a project. The
residential, commercial and business areas as well as main, entry
points and public and entertainment regions are covered by the
MRT network.