New cars on streets soar
New cars on streets soar
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The often crippling traffic jams and a prolonged economic crisis
have not stopped Jakartans from buying new cars.
The Jakarta administration reported on Tuesday the number of
new cars on the city's streets has soared over the past four
years.
"Our records show that the number of people asking for new
vehicle registration documents (STNK) in 2001 doubled from
an average of 138 people per day in 2001 to 269 people in 2004,"
Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday while introducing the 15
members of the new Jakarta Transportation Council.
Sutiyoso said the number of new cars being registered grew by
7 percent annually from 1998 to 2004.
"The growth (in the number of new cars) is much higher than
the growth of the city's roads, which is less than 1 percent a
year," he said.
The governor said the growth of new car purchases was being
fueled by a poor public transportation system, which encouraged
people to use private vehicles rather than undergo the nuisance
of inconvenience of buses or trains.
Quoting an official report, Sutiyoso said there were 4.4
million private cars and motorcycles on Jakarta's roads, or 98
percent of all vehicles operating in the city. In comparison,
there are only 82,000 public transportation vehicles.
However, the public transportation vehicles account for 50.3
percent of trips in the city, while private vehicles account for
49.7 percent of trips.
"No wonder our public transportation vehicles are always
crowded, unsafe and in poor condition," he said.
Sutiyoso warned the city would suffer total gridlock in five
to 10 years unless the administration and residents made
significant changes to the transportation system.
"There is a joke that by 2014, Jakarta residents will not be
able to drive their cars out of the driveway because the traffic
jams will have reached their neighborhoods," he said.
From 1978 to 2002, the administration has carried out studies
on urban transportation in an effort to solve chronic traffic
jams in the capital.
"Unfortunately, those studies have not been followed up with
concrete action so the traffic woes remain untouched. That's why
we took the initiative to draw up a plan for a macro
transportation system, with the help of transportation experts,"
he said.
The comprehensive system will integrate a subway, monorail,
busway and river transportation.
The administration and central government expect to begin
developing the US$767 million (Rp 7.1 trillion) subway system
next year. A $650 million monorail project, wholly financed by
private companies, is under construction and is slated to be
completed next year. River transportation is still far in the
future.