MTI urges people-centered transportation development

MTI urges people-centered transportation development

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) has called on the
government to involve the public in decisions involving the
development of transportation facilities.

"The government must involve communities in all stages of
transportation projects," MTI chairman Bambang Susantono said on
Monday. "That means from the planning stage to the monitoring and
maintenance of those projects."

He said that consulting the public about transportation was
currently a mere formality.

In his presentation at a national transportation workshop,
Bambang revealed that Indonesian road users spent Rp 1.55
trillion (US$167.26 million) per day on both road maintenance and
travel costs.

That amount, he said, showed that road users were the primary
stake holders of transportation development.

Road vehicles are the most common form of transportation,
dominating passenger services by 84.13 percent (compared to the
railway's 7.32 percent) and the transportation of goods by 90.34
percent (0.62 percent by railway).

"In urban areas, for instance, administrations should prepare
a bottom-up plan involving the grass roots and then translate
that plan into an integrated transportation system," Bambang
said.

Road construction, he said, caused heavy traffic congestion
that in Jakarta alone caused Rp 41.05 billion in losses per day.

"It is better for the government to develop a mass rapid
transit system like commuter trains rather than build more
roads," said Bambang.

Building more roads and not other transportation facilities,
he said, led to the inefficient use of land, while a mass
transportation system could convey more people simultaneously.

The development of a mass rapid transit system may not seem to
have financial benefits, but would have other benefits, such as
increasing productivity due to less stress caused by traffic
jams.

Bambang said the government's plan to build 1,500 kilometers
of roads connecting Java and Bali should have included other
forms of transportation such as trains for higher efficiency.

On a national scale, Indonesia needs an umbrella policy
derived from its national financial system, he said.

At the same event, Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa
said the government planned to issue a presidential decree on a
transportation system that would serve as a reference for the
overall development of Indonesia's modes of transportation. (003)