New roads promote car sales, expert says

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The construction of new roads will encourage people to buy cars instead of using public transportation and will not solve the worsening traffic jams in the capital, said transportation observer Darmaningtyas of the Transportation Institute (Intrans).

"Wider new roads, flyovers and underpasses will only attract Jakartans to buy cars. This will lead to more problems," he said after a seminar on the accessibility of the city for pedestrians and people using non-motorized vehicles, organized by Pelangi green organization.

The city administration has been constructing six flyovers and two underpasses at eight locations across the capital since last year. The construction has caused traffic congestion during peak hours.

Darmaningtyas said that the absence of comfortable public transportation has also prompted Jakartans to use private cars.

"There are a great number of private cars but they only transport a small number of passengers compared to public transportation," he said.

Data provided by the city police traffic unit indicates that there are around 1.3 million passenger cars, 403,000 cargo cars or trucks, 315,000 buses and 2.6 million motorcycles in Greater Jakarta.

Separately, the city police traffic unit chief Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Ishak said that the uncontrolled rise in the number of motorized vehicles has long been considered one of the main causes of traffic problems in the city.

"The heavy traffic congestion makes motorists drive recklessly and most of the time they ignore traffic signs," he told The Jakarta Post.

Furthermore, police say 85 percent of traffic accidents in the capital are caused by reckless driving or violations of traffic regulations.

Fatal traffic accidents in Jakarta have increased by 37 percent to 334 casualties as of August this year, compared to a total of 243 fatalities in the same period last year.

Darmaningtyas said that the administration must improve the public transportation system and set restrictions to discourage people from using private cars.

Another speaker, Andi Rahmah from Pelangi, said that the transportation system prioritizes motorists; new roads are being constructed while the need for sidewalks and zebra crossings for pedestrians has been ignored.

"Sixty five percent of fatalities in traffic accidents are pedestrians and 35 percent of those are children," he said.