Public expects better transportation
Public expects better transportation
JAKARTA (JP): Will it be a subway or a monorail? This is what
the city administration is trying to answer in order to solve the
public transportation problem.
The transportation system must not only be comfortable,
punctual, safe and convenient, but also affordable.
The Jakarta Post interviewed a number of people to find out
what the public expects from the city administration.
Tina Abidin (not her real name), a graduate student in Ithaca,
New York State, the United States: Can you imagine what it would
be like if we had a monorail? Jakarta's skies are already messed
up with electricity lines, skyscrapers and highways -- but no
trees. It gives me a headache. A subway would be better, only the
security and electricity needs special attention. In New York I'm
afraid to ride the subway by myself even during the day, while in
Ithaca it's safe until late at night.
Edowati Sudjono, director of Inti Pratama Mangara public
relations: I can't really imagine either system here.
Indonesians' lack of discipline, our habits and security would
make it horrible. People couldn't go on being stowaways anymore,
and we might have more homeless people inhabiting the subways. I
reckon I wouldn't dare go on a subway in Jakarta pass 9 p.m. In
London, the subway was okay, but then I was only on a short
vacation.
Hoemar Tjokrodiatmo, architect and director of PT Hoemar
Tjokrodiatmo: If Tokyo and Paris decided aeromovels were better
they would have had them by now, wouldn't they? With subways
there is more to do -- we would have to sort out our drainage
system first. But the system is essential to a metropolis. We
just need to educate ourselves into being cleaner.
I think aeromovels would not only block our view, they would
also be a health hazard with the electromagnetic waves issued by
the moving vehicle, which are absorbed underground in the case of
subways. Geobiology experts say exposure to such waves can cause
cancer.
Nearby buildings wouldn't be able to sustain the noise and
tremor. Aeromovels would best serve areas with more empty space,
there's something like that over the tulip gardens of Keukenhoff
in Holland. Here the vehicles could be used in the outer areas of
the city or from one city to another.
Dr. Bianpoen, a noted architect and now an urban planner at
the University of Indonesia.
Commenting on the city administration's plan to operate either
light trains, aeromovels or subways, Dr. Bianpoen said that
Jakarta lags far behind other big cities in the world in terms of
transportation.
Theoretically, every city with a population of 2 million must
have a mass transit system. Jakarta houses more than 9 million
people but has just started thinking about a transit system.
A proposal for a system was included in the l965-l985 city
master plan but the government didn't act on it.
"I was surprised when I read the news that private investors
have already submitted their proposals for the mass transit
system," said Bianpoen, former head of Jakarta's Center for
Urban and Environmental Research and Development.
The city administration should be more open with its plan,
Bianpoen suggested.
State toll road company, PT Jasa Marga, cooperated with PT
Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, a private construction firm owned
by the eldest daughter of the President, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana,
to propose building light trains, aeromovels, or a Rp 2 trillion-
triple-decker highway. They want to provide the public with a
convenient transportation system to curb city traffic jams.
Several foreign companies have also submitted proposals to
build a subway. The proposals are being jointly handled by the
Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works, the
Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Agency for the Assessment
and Application of Technology and the National Development
Planning Board.
Bianpoen said it is most important that all proposals be
studied thoroughly.
To construct a subway, for instance, the contours and the
conditions in the city must be considered. Seventy percent of the
city is prone to flooding, therefore, it would be very costly and
very hard to build a subway. However, if the government has the
money, the subway may provide a better option than other systems.
Light trains like the monorail, on the other hand, are not an
appropriate system, said Bianpoen, who obtained a Ph.D in urban
management from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
"The aeromovel is only suitable for short-distance trips, like
at recreational parks," he explained.
The system should be a non-oil means that can carry at least
40,000 passengers to one destination per hour. It must be
environmentally friendly.(anr/raw)