New sticker system on the road in August

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is planning to run trials of a traffic sticker system which has been endorsed by President Soeharto from August to November, an official announced yesterday.

The new regulations will apply from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. throughout the period, Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi said.

The system will replace the three-in-one traffic regulation during the trial period. The existing regulation to deal with city-center congestion, which was introduced in 1992, stipulates that vehicles entering the restricted area should be carrying at least three passengers.

Kahfi said the trials were to evaluate the new system's potential to ease notorious rush hour traffic jams on the city's main streets.

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

The trials will take place on Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto. Motorists will have to display a valid sticker on their windshield if they wish to enter the restricted zone. Stickers can be purchased for a single entry, one day unlimited entry or one month unlimited entry.

The city administration has not yet decided on pricing policy. "Prices will be announced when we have decided," Kahfi told journalists after reporting to Governor Sutiyoso on the project.

Kahfi is on the record as having said the city administration will take into consideration the amount of money motorists spend paying jockeys to circumvent the three-in-one traffic regulation.

A jockey receives between Rp 1,000 and Rp 2,000 (US$0.25) to make up the required number of passengers for a trip into the restricted area.

A presidential decree on the sticker system was issued on Monday and the city is now drafting the necessary bylaws in preparation.

There is speculation that PT Wijaya Wisesa, a company owned by former Jakarta deputy governor Eddy Nalapraya, has been awarded the contract to manage the new project.

The company reportedly proposed charging Rp 5,000 for a sticker allowing a single entry into the restricted zone, Rp 8,000 for a one day unlimited entry sticker and Rp 100,000 for a one month unlimited entry sticker.

Kahfi said that there would be 40 outlets selling the tickets around and along the restricted zone, including banks, shops and supermarkets.

Kahfi, who leads a special team assigned to draft the new regulations and make the necessary technical preparations, said that the governor has ordered the team to be receptive to advice from other concerned parties, such as traffic police, the City Land Transportation Agency and the public.

"As far as I'm concerned, all parties have agreed with the system," he said.

He said that the restricted areas would be supervised by officers from the city land transportation agency and the police.

"The restricted area will cover the same streets as the three- in-one system, we won't widen the area," he said. (ind)