Special team established to solve traffic problems

JAKARTA (JP): To solve traffic problems in Jakarta, a special team is being formed whose members will be from the National Police, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works and transportation experts, police said yesterday.

Traffic Director of the National Police Brig. Gen. Soemarsono told reporters that the team will look for solutions to traffic problems in the big cities, especially in Jakarta.

"Traffic jams in big cities, especially Jakarta, must be handled from now on or they will become a source of big trouble in the future," Soemarsono said.

He added that at present the number of vehicles in Jakarta increases by 1,200 to 1,300 a day. "The figures are a cause for worry," he added.

City police data shows there are currently 2.7 million vehicles in Jakarta and the number is growing at the rate of 14 percent per year, while the increase in road length is only 4 percent per annum. The population of Jakarta and surrounding areas is estimated to reach 10 million this year.

Soemarsono said the recent proposal by city police would also be studied by the team.

Jakarta's city police have proposed that the City Council restrict the number of vehicles traversing certain roads in the city. For example, only vehicles with odd numbers on their number plates would be permitted to use certain roads on certain days, while only those with even numbers would be permitted to use the same roads on other days.

The police also proposed that old vehicles, especially those produced before 1970, be banned from the city's main roads.

Soemarsono said the idea involving odd and even numbers on vehicle number plates would not be easy to implement. "It could be implemented but would be difficult to control," he said.

Restriction

Commenting on the restriction on old vehicles, Soemarsono said not all members of the community may agree to the idea. "There are still many people who own vehicles which were produced before the 1970s," he added.

According to Soemarsono a one-way traffic system would be more suitable for solving the traffic problems, since traffic problems are immediately related to the roads concerned. "This also will be studied," he added.

City police data show that the number of vehicles in Jakarta is increasing every year. In 1992 the number of privately owned vehicles was 2,127,881. In 1993 the number was 2,323,134 while in 1994 it had reached 2,650,861.

Meanwhile, the numbers of public transportation vehicles in the same period were 46,262 in 1992, 47,539 in 1993 and 49,797 in 1994.

The length of roads in Jakarta was 5,682.55 kms in 1992, 5,853.21 kms in 1993 and 5,907.95 kms in 1994.

Jakarta police also identified 12 roads where traffic jams are prone to occur. They include Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. Thamrin, Jl. S. Parman, Jl. Pondok Indah, Jl. Daan Mogot, Jl. Ciputat, Jl. Raya Bekasi, Jl. Martadinata, Jl. Suprapto, Jl. Pasar Minggu and Jl. Raya Bogor. (01)