The ins and outs of three-in-one

The restricted traffic zone system in Jakarta's central area, popularly called the "three-in-one" system, will soon be phased out because newly appointed Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso considers it as ineffective in easing congestion. But in the absence of any viable alternative, the system has its staunch supporters. This article looks into the controversy. A brief history of the three- in-one system appears on Page 9.

By Ahmad Junaidi and Edith Hartanto

JAKARTA (JP): Fifteen-year old Teguh has been standing on the sidewalk of Jl. Satrio, in the Kuningan district, for a few minutes. When a red Kijang van approaches him, he vanishes.

Teguh is a seasoned "jockey", a term to describe people who offer themselves as passengers to motorists trying to beat the system that requires a minimum of three passengers in a car.

He says the red Kijang is driven by a police officer preying on jockeys, to catch them in the act, so to speak.

Teguh says he has already had to deal with the law several times in the two years since he began this profession.

"Because I'm often arrested, I can recognize a car driven by an undercover police officer," he tells The Jakarta Post.

Police would either take him to the Kedoya social service center in West Jakarta, or the Cipayung social service office in East Jakarta.

Either one was not fun.

Those who are caught during a given day are given a brief lesson in discipline such as marching before they are released. And it is a strict military discipline that is imposed at these social service agencies.

"Once I came home with bruises on my arms. The officers beat me because I turned left when they told me to turn right during one march," Teguh says.

The disciplinary measures seem hardly effective, just as the three-in-one system seems ineffective in easing Jakarta's notorious traffic congestion.

Teguh has continued to work the streets in spite of his repeated arrests. He reports that he earns at least Rp 2,000 to Rp 3,000 a day. "Sometimes, a generous driver gives me Rp 5,000 or Rp 10,000," he recalls.

Lawyer Henri Yosodiningrat claims the arrests on jockeys are baseless.

"Disturbing public order? Who are you kidding? These kids help people. They are working," Henry tells the Post.

Police blame the jockeys for undermining the three-in-one policy and defend their operation to round up these jockeys. In the last five years, at least 8,000 of them have been rounded up and disciplined although none have been charged with a crime.

"These jockeys make the policy ineffective," Jakarta Traffic Police Chief Col. Fachrudin Bakar says.

Jakarta Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang warns that some of these young jockeys are criminals, recalling that officers often find credit cards and handphones from the netted jockeys.

Privately, many officers who administer the policy in the streets, find the system wanting and arresting the jockeys an unpleasant task.

"As law enforcers, we are faced with a dilemma. We only know that our chief job is to ensure that traffic runs smoothly," Suparman (not a real name), a 33-year-old police officer, says.

He says the police are fighting a losing battle because congestion has continued. "As soon as the restriction is lifted after 10 a.m., the roads are congested again," Suparman says.

As motorists are settling down to the policy after five years, and as thousands of jockeys have found ways of profiting from it, now Governor Sutiyoso has decided to do away with it.

Sutiyoso, however, has not come up with any viable alternative. Nor, it seems, has anyone who supports the phasing out of the system.

"We've learned that the three-in-one policy is not effective," Deputy Governor TB.M. Rais says. "It is no longer suitable for Jakarta's traffic situation. We are looking for alternatives."

The three-in-one policy still has its staunch supporters, within and outside the administration.

J.P. Sepang, head of the City Land Transportation Agency says the policy should be retained until a better replacement is found.

"The three-in-one concept is good. The presence of jockeys is the problem. Don't throw the concept away just because we cannot control the excesses."

Wiyogo Atmodarminto, who was Jakarta's governor in 1992 when the policy was launched, says the chief objective of the policy was to encourage people to leave their cars behind and use public transportation.

"Jakarta is already too crowded with too many cars. There is simply not enough roads for all the cars in Jakarta," Wiyogo says.

Currently, Jakarta, home to 11 million people in the daytime and nine million people during the night, has been crowded with 2,165,200 vehicles roaming the 5,908 kilometers of roads.

"Whatever the administration does, there will always be traffic congestion. That is why the city must start to control the number of cars being driven in the city at any one time," he says.

"That's why I think the three-in-one policy is still relevant," he says, adding that the policy could be effective with better and stricter enforcement.

"Many cars with less than three passengers still pass the police check points and get away with it. This encourages people to violate the rule.

"Many who are stopped simply pay bribe money. This kind of action must be stopped," says Wiyogo, who served as Jakarta's governor from 1987 to 1992.

He admits that the administration has to make a tough decision on how to deal with the jockeys. "The municipality has to decide which is more important, solving the traffic problem or being lenient toward jockeys?" he says.

The long-term solution, he concludes, is an improvement in public transportation facilities.

Wiyogo bluntly rejects the proposal to restrict the main thoroughfares to cars with stickers, available for a fee.

This is the system applied in Singapore.

"I resisted that idea when I was the governor because it is not effective and could lead to forgery or corruption," Wiyogo says.

"And it would widen the gap between the rich and the poor. The sticker would have to be expensive, because it would be used to limit the number of vehicles coming to the restricted area," he says.

Sepang also points to a potential legal problem.

"Law No.13/1980 bars the conversion of a public road into a toll road without a presidential decree," he says.

Surjadi Soedirdja, who was succeeded by Sutiyoso as governor last month, says that it is normal if the three-in-one policy is being reevaluated now.

"Without evaluation, we will not know if the system really works," he says.

But he refrained from further comment on the controversy. "I'm not a governor anymore, it's not my business anymore. Please ask Pak Sutiyoso," he says.

Bun Yamin Ramto, an urban planning expert, claims that Jakarta's traffic congestion could be eased if people -- motorists, pedestrians and traders -- were more disciplined in using roads.

"Many sidewalk vendors throughout Jakarta trade on the streets. They don't respect regulations.

Reckless drivers, pedestrians and passengers, all of them, also contribute to the list of violations of traffic regulations," he says.

The three-in-one system could be retained and made effective with a more rigorous campaign for greater discipline among road users, he says.

Jakarta is crowded with people who come from every part of the country. He concludes that "people here have different cultures and habits that must be adapted to the rules of living in a big city."