'Quotas needed to limit car manufacturing'

'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