Three-in-one ruling may go after general session

JAKARTA (JP): The three-in-one traffic regulation for Jakarta's main thoroughfares is to be disbanded after the March general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Governor Sutiyoso announced yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with President Soeharto at his residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta, Sutiyoso said a special regulation would be issued to back up the implementation of a new sticker system.

"The President has agreed with the plan in principle even though it is hindered by the fact that enforcing the use of stickers has no legal basis," he said.

Based on the existing laws, only motorists using toll roads are required to pay, Sutiyoso said.

But the implementation of the sticker system could be backed up by the issuance of a governmental regulation or presidential instruction with the approval of the House of Representatives, he said.

When asked the start date for the new system, Sutiyoso said the most likely possibility was after the general session of the MPR in March.

"The implementation of the new system is currently being prepared, including the prices of the stickers and which private companies will be chosen to run it in cooperation with the municipality."

He explained that three companies have thus far submitted proposals to become partners in the project and prepare the hardware for the system's implementation.

"We will choose the best firm from among the private companies interested in the system."

Sutiyoso reiterated that the sticker system would not burden the poor as it would only affect middle- and upper-class people.

"On the contrary, it will benefit the poor people because the money from the sale of the stickers will be used to improve public transportation fleets, most of which are already in bad condition."

He said those most affected would be people working in the modern office blocks along the three-in-one zones -- Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta and Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

Such a system has already been applied successfully in other countries, including Singapore, he said.

"I think imitating the good initiatives of other countries makes sense."

Under the new system, motorists who pass through three-in-one zones during the morning peak hours will be required to buy the stickers, he said.

The three-in-one regulation, which was introduced in 1992, stipulates that a private car must contain a minimum of three passengers between 6:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on work days.

The municipality indicated its intention to abolish the regulation late last year on the grounds that it is no longer effective.

The regulation was originally intended to discourage people from driving their cars to work and inspire them to use public transport.

But it created a new problem: "jockeys", people who offer themselves as passengers for a short ride into the restricted zones and past the police checkpoints for a fee of Rp 1,000 (10 U.S. cents).

Police are virtually powerless to stop the practice, which is a popular way for boys who go to school in the afternoon to earn pocket money. But now girls, housewives and even women with babies have joined the trend.

Sutiyoso urged reporters yesterday to monitor whether funds from the sale of stickers were really used to refurbish public transportation fleets.

"If the funds can be used to buy 10 new public buses, how many new buses will there be on the city's streets?" he said. "In the long run, the middle-class people will no longer hesitate to use buses which are in good condition.

"With such improvements, all the buses which are already in bad condition will be phased out in stages. Please send them to other cities, such as Pare-Pare or Poso. The most important thing is that the capital's buses are good." (prb/hhr)