Solving traffic problems

Being a traffic advisor for local, regional and national governments from Holland on holiday in Indonesia I read the letter from Adrian Smith in The Jakarta Post on May 23, titled Trams please, not more buses!.

As a professional I feel I should add some details. I agree that to fight pollution and traffic jams in cities buses are not the right choice unless electronic trolley busses are used, as can be seen in the Dutch city of Arnhem. Trams could be an option, but better possibilities are train and metro (MRT) systems. They do not run on streets, but underground and on special tracks, so your (car) infrastructure will not be adversely affected. Good examples are to be found in most major cities all over the world, such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, London, New York etc.

In Europe new combinations of tram, metro and train systems are introduced going under the name of "Light Rail". Examples are to be found in Germany (Karlsruhe and Saarbruecken) or France (Strassbourg) or London (Docklands Lightrail).

Unfortunately The Netherlands do not have good light rail systems yet. We are constructing the new system in the area of Rotterdam. Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam are indeed good examples of tram infrastructure in Holland.

ANDRE BUIJS

Utrecht, Holland