'Property sector should fund subway project'

'Property sector should fund subway project'

JAKARTA (JP): An expert on transportation and urban
development proposed yesterday that the private property sector
should help meet the shortfall of funds for the subway project
planned by the city administration.

Kusbiantoro, of the Institute of Technology, Bandung, was
commenting on Jakarta's plans to implement a new system called
congestion pricing, which requires all vehicles, except public
buses, to pay when using certain roads.

Congestion pricing from Rp 1,500 to Rp 3,000 per vehicle in
the first phase of the subway construction -- to begin in 1997 --
is aimed at helping finance the US$1.5 billion subway project.

The project is part of the administration's efforts to provide
mass rapid transport for the residents.

The pricing will be effective once a presidential decree on
the project is issued. Deputy Governor for Economic and
Development Affairs, TB.M. Rais, said Monday that the pricing
will also help ease traffic on main thoroughfares.

Other public funds should be raised by reactivating lapsed tax
rules, an executive of the subway project's management unit,
Slamet Sularno, said earlier.

Kusbiantoro said congestion pricing might either fail to
discourage Jakartans from using their cars, or bring in little
revenue if many people avoid main thoroughfares.

"A more realistic way to fund the construction and ensure
cheap tickets, is to give the property sector a concession of,
say, 25 years, to build and operate one route," he said.

He added that decisions on the subway for the route from Blok
M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta, may be difficult to
change now. "But should there be an evaluation, this is what I
would propose."

Kusbiantoro is one of the unofficial experts consulted on the
project. He said the idea could also be considered for the
subway's future east-west routes.

Cross-subsidies from the property sector would raise much more
money than congestion pricing and other planned public funding
schemes, he said.

Slamet had earlier said that maximizing city revenues, which
could reach Rp 868.8 billion by 2025, will enable the city to pay
$25 million per year for five years as equity in the MRT project.

Kusbiantoro said yesterday that the property companies could
be allowed to set up commercial facilities like supermarkets or
apartments on certain areas along the MRT route.

Rents would be high on the route, which could help fund
construction. The companies would also be encouraged to get as
many passengers as possible on the subway, Kusbiantoro said.

Meanwhile the chairperson of the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation, Tini Hadad, said congestion pricing should not be
linked to the subway.

"We will get confused as to what the aim of such pricing is,"
she said.

"The city can just ask for contributions instead of imposing
such pricing, as we know traffic jams can only be reduced with
better public transport," she said.

City Council Speaker M.H. Ritonga, supported the idea of
congestion pricing and called for an immediate end to the current
three-in-one system in rush hours.

"The three-in-one system is no longer effective," he said.

The system has not solved congestion and has led to the
problem of the "three-in-one joki kids."

Public transport must be improved to reduce the use of private
vehicles, which are currently 70 percent of the city's vehicles,
he stressed.

Making motorists take turns by odd and even license plates
would thus cut private vehicles on the roads by 35 percent daily,
he said. He did not comment on introducing congestion pricing
linked to the MRT project. (anr/yns)