Order on toll roads urgently needed

Order on toll roads urgently needed

In the name of practicality, toll roads are currently no
longer treated as freeways.

At any given moment, we can see how city buses pick up and
drop off passengers at will on some sections of the roads. This
is not only against traffic rules, but also disturbs other road
users and has the potential of causing accidents.

On the Cikampek freeway, buses also let passengers get off on
the bridge of Pekayon, Bekasi. On the Jagorawi toll road, the
same thing can be found at the ex-toll gate of TMII, Cibubur.

In Tangerang, buses even are freely parking on toll road
shoulder lanes, waiting for passengers.

Buses also stop on urban toll routes around Cawang, Pancoran
and Slipi, allowing passengers to leave the public cars, jump
over fences and cross the roads, despite the fast-moving traffic
in the artery line.

The most decisive factor, however, is the attitude of
passengers. If only they knew that the habit was wrong that they
could be punished for complicity, they might not force bus
drivers to stop at dangerous spots.

Yet the situation is inseparable from the unfavorable
circumstances in general -- from the traffic congestion to the
increasingly indifferent and permissive city dwellers.

Traffic often reflects its society. So, it seems that
Jakarta's messed-up roads constitute a mirror image of the
confused state of our public life.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta