Three-in-one scheme still being evaluated

JAKARTA (JP): The three-in-one traffic zone will not be phased out until the People's Consultative Assembly general meeting next March, the head of the City Land Transportation Agency, J.P. Sepang, said yesterday.

And the system will undergo a thorough assessment before a decision is made about its future, Sepang said after meeting with the municipality's high-ranking officials and Governor Sutiyoso.

"We need time to evaluate the policy," he said.

The three-in-one zone, which was introduced in 1992 with the passing of Law No. 14/1992, requires each private car to carry at least three people when traveling along Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin between 6:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. from Monday to Saturday.

The policy was aimed at discouraging people from driving their cars to work and encouraging them to use public transport or car- pooling with neighbors or fellow workers.

After five years of implementation, Governor Sutiyoso considered it an ineffective method of easing the city's traffic congestion.

Besides falling short of expectations the system created a new problem, jockeys -- people who offer themselves as passengers to motorists trying to beat the system.

Sepang said that it was decided in yesterday's meeting that the municipality will concentrate on three questions: whether other alternatives are more effective than the three-in-one zone; whether the jockeys can be eliminated if the system is maintained; and whether the drivers of cars with less than three passengers are being apprehended.

Sepang said that to replace the system the municipality needed input from many parties, including experts.

Governor Sutiyoso had asked Deputy Governor of Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi to establish a team to evaluate the three-in- one system, Sepang said.

An employee of a bank located in the restricted zone told The Jakarta Post yesterday that he supported the postponement, saying that the system was quite good.

"I think the three-in-one policy is good. If it's replaced by, for example, a sticker system, people are obliged to pay a sum of money.

"Since we've already been subjected to many fees and levies collected by the municipality, please don't burden us with more," he said. "It's better to give the money to the jockeys than to the municipality." (05)