Restricted zone permits in the offing
Restricted zone permits in the offing
JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to relieve lingering traffic problems, the city administration plans to limit the number of private cars entering certain streets.
Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs TB. M. Rais said yesterday that setting a fee for motorists to enter restricted areas is considered the best policy to be implemented. "Private cars are charged a certain amount of money to enter certain roads," Rais said.
"In this way people will gradually prefer going by public transport to using private cars," he said.
Rais said the Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Jendral Sudirman could be used in the pilot project.
He said the policy will be implemented as soon as the city's first subway system is completed.
The municipality plans to build a 15-kilometer subway from Blok M to Kota, with construction beginning next year.
Rais said the policy should be imposed because the length of Jakarta's road do not increase as fast as the number of cars. Currently, the number of cars increases by 14 percent per year, while the expansion of roads is only 4 percent annually.
Rais said permits for restricted zones are required because it is impossible to prohibit people from buying new cars.
"The money collected from permits could be used to finance the development of roads," he said.
The sale of permits to enter the restricted zone is an expansion of the ongoing three-in-one policy and one way traffic.
The three-in-one policy is now implemented along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin requiring one vehicle to carry three passengers or more between 6:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.
"Both policies are also intended to limit the number of cars using the streets," he said.
The government has introduced various policies to decrease the price of vehicles by, among other things, giving better protection to local vehicle industry.
People will be able to buy a sedan for about Rp 30 million (US$13,000) when a joint-venture company, PT Kia-Timor Motor, starts producing vehicles.
Currently, a 1,600 cc Japanese sedan is sold here for between Rp 60 million and Rp 80 million. (yns)