Racing against time in Bangkok's winding traffic snarl
The Jakarta administration recently held a press tour to Bangkok and other cities in Thailand to see how they handle traffic problems and vendors. Journalists also visited some tourist spots. The Jakarta Post's reporter Stevie Emilia writes the following report and two other stories on this page. She also took the pictures.
BANGKOK (JP): At times, Bangkok's traffic seems utterly hopeless as motorists have to line up for hours to reach their destinations.
At other times, the traffic flows very smoothly, far removed from Bangkok's reputation for the world's worst traffic jams.
But, unlike traffic snarls in Jakarta, people here are more patient and pass the time during traffic jams watching portable television, listening to the radio or keeping busy with their cellular phones.
Some motorists even bring portable potties, allowing them to relieve themselves in their own vehicles during traffic congestion.
Resident Somphorn Hwangseritam said that Bangkok's congestions were unpredictable.
Everyday he leaves home at 6 a.m. and reaches his office, 30 kilometers away, more than an hour later.
"I'd rather sleep in the office than getting stuck in traffic jams," said Somphorn, who has visited Jakarta once.
It is estimated that the typical Bangkok motorist spends a cumulative 44 days per year in traffic.
When asked to compare Jakarta's traffic with Bangkok's, Somphorn said people in Jakarta can predict the congestion.
"In Bangkok, we can't predict them at all," Somphorn said.
However, motorists in Bangkok are more tolerant and disciplined. "If we want to pass another vehicle, all we have to do is nod our head," Somphorn said.
About 3.2 million vehicles crawl through Bangkok's streets at an average speed of 13 kilometers per hour (km/h) during peak hours.
Bangkok's rush hour traffic flow, however, is better than Hong Kong, which has an average speed of 12.2 km/h; Taipei, 11.5 km/h; Bombay, 10.4 km/h; and Manila, 7.2 km/h.
Roads
The main culprit in Bangkok's bad traffic, in addition to the influx of vehicles, is the lack of road network.
In all of Bangkok, the road network represents only 8 percent of Bangkok's mass. To reach international standards, the road network needs to be increased to at least 20 percent.
Road development grows by only 0.01 percent annually, while the number of vehicles increases by 12 percent. The total length of roads in the city is 4,600 kilometers.
Nopadol Luangdilok of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) Traffic and Transportation Department said that the department could not expand the road network.
"There's no more land available for road construction," said Nopadol, who is director for the technical division.
He said there is about 8 percent of land available for road construction. "But the BMA doesn't have enough funds to appropriate the land. Besides, most of the land is privately owned," Nopadol said.
Land prices in Bangkok are high. In the busiest areas, such as Silom Street, the price reaches up to 150,000 baht (US$4,687) per square meter.
Blame
Private cars cannot entirely be blamed for Bangkok's traffic problems as only 25 percent of the city's 5.57 million population use them.
Motorcycles, buses, trucks and taxis make up the bulk of Bangkok's traffic.
Bangkok's 6,000 public buses are in dire need of attention because although they make up less than 1 percent of vehicles on the roads, they produce as much as half of the pollutants found in the city's air.
Taxis are also one of the city's major polluters as the department does not restrict the issuance of their operational permits. Currently, there are 50,000 legal taxis operating in the city.
Nopadol said that some of the traffic police are undergoing treatment for respiratory ailments because of the city's air pollution. "All traffic police are now required to wear masks," he said.
The 1996 United Nations statistics put Bangkok ranking second for the most polluted city in the world after Mexico. Jakarta was in third position.
Solution
Bangkok's traffic congestion is not unsolvable, or so the BMA thinks, as it has pledged to overcome it in the next 10 years.
The use of a modern computerized system on road intersections and the planned and under-construction mass transport projects are the grounds of the department's optimism on solving traffic problems.
About 143 computerized traffic signs have been installed in Bangkok, with 226 more planned.
The city's 369 intersections, which are blamed of slowing down traffic flow and causing a high number of traffic accidents, are the result of the authority's failure in imposing its spatial plans.
"We do have urban spatial plans but we can't enforce them because we fear people's protests. Investors here can construct anything. As the result, the city develops without clear directions," Nopadol said.
The mass transport projects, some of which are under construction, promise much needed decongestion.
The one most likely to be completed first is the skytrain, worth US$1.3 billion, which is scheduled for completion in 1999.
The second project, the $3.2 billion Hopewell Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS), is expected to offer 60 km of light rail and 48 km of expressways. If everything goes according to plans, this one will be operating in 2003.
Another project, the Mass Rapid Transit system, has started the first phase and is expected to be completed in 2002. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2005.
The department will also construct more highways, bridges and toll roads. The investment involved in these projects is enormous, but as the current traffic congestions cost the country over 14 billion baht per year in wasted fuel bills, the potential savings far exceed the outlay.
If Jakarta does not find a solution for traffic problems soon, such as by constructing unerground railway facilities and a three-tier transit system, traffic jams will be even worse than those in Bangkok.
Without such mass projects, nobody can estimate when, or if, Jakarta will be free from traffic jams.