Traffic jams spreading unabated

Traffic jams spreading unabated

JAKARTA (JP): The number of traffic jams in Jakarta has reached an alarming level and could eventually pose a tremendous threat to national development, City Council chairman M.H. Ritonga said yesterday.

"If the ever-increasing number of vehicles in the city is not controlled, traffic congestion will become Jakarta's most serious problem," Ritonga was quoted by Antara as saying.

If no effective steps are taken by the authorities within the next 10 to 25 years, he predicted, practically every street in Jakarta would be completely impassable.

At present there are at least two million vehicles in Jakarta, or a ratio of one vehicle to every four people living in the city.

Ritonga came up with eight proposals to cope with the nagging problems of traffic in the capital city while he was still Jakarta's police chief, one of which was the "three-in-one" policy.

The capital city's famed "three-in-one" policy requires that all private cars traveling on major roads during morning rush hours must carry at least three people, which includes the driver.

Ritonga said the other alternative proposals included parking systems and a new management system in the public transportation sector. (bas)