'Quotas needed to limit car manufacturing'

With 1.3 million passenger cars, part of a total of 2.6 million vehicles in the city, and increasing demand, Jakarta's streets are becoming more crowded, day by day. The enthusiasm people have for new cars is seen by the large numbers of people who flock to the ongoing Jakarta car and motorcycle shows. The Jakarta Post asked residents about whether there were too many cars in the city.

Nurdin Hasan, 30, is an employee of a private company in Tomang, West Jakarta. He lives with his wife in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta:

The number of cars and motorcycles on the streets has been increasing rapidly. They are jamming up the streets because people still prefer to use their own vehicles rather than take public transportation, which is considered inconvenient and unsafe.

The increasing number of vehicles, I think, relate to people's desire to consume and their belief their vehicles reflect their social status.

The government has done almost nothing to provide and improve public transportation. It should have also limited the sales of cars and motorcycles and increase the fuel price.

What many people don't know is that Indonesia has become an oil importer now and we're probably enjoying fuel subsidies for our cars and motorcycles that come from foreign debts.

Lilik Supriadi, 33, is a technical manager for an Islamic satellite television station in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. He lives in Halim Perdanakusumah, East Jakarta, with his wife and mother:

The number of private cars in the city is definitely too high -- the frequent traffic jams happening nowadays and the ratio between private cars and public transport makes this obvious.

The city administration should start implementing strict policies and regulations to limit private cars, with the most important alternative being to provide a convenient mass rapid transportation system so people would be willing to leave their cars at home.

The suggestion to alternately limit the number of cars on the streets based on their license plates is also a good idea, but people who own several cars can easily abuse such a regulation.

What would be more effective, I think, would be to set quotas for car production and on car sales and distribution in the city.

-- The Jakarta Post