Transportation a time-old problem
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city's metamorphic public transportation system captured in a photo exhibition at the Jakarta History Museum on Jl. Fatahillah, West Jakarta, revealed more than development in progress.
Visitors of the Governors and Transportation exhibition saw the photos -- taken by photojournalists since Ali Sadikin's administration in the 1960s and 1970s, "as an exposure of the governors' failure to handle transportation woes".
"From all the photos, I realized that conditions have not changed at all. You can still find the same traffic jams and chaos at bus stations in the photos taken in the 1970s," said a visitor, Teguh Dewa Brata.
As in the subtitle, From Becak (three-wheeled pedicab) to Monorail, nearly all modes of transportation from each era are still present, competing for passengers.
One of the photos showed a traditional horse-drawn carriage trotted in the bus lane of thoroughfare Jl. Sudirman, while a line of buses queued behind it.
The 100-odd photographs, which are from the museum's collection, also known as Fatahillah Museum, the Jakarta administration and Kompas newspaper, also depicted the familiar uncontrolled development of transportation.
The exhibition is being held from June 21 to July 21 in observance of the city's 478th anniversary which fell on Wednesday.
Another visitor, Anita Dharmawan, said that the exhibition also showed that none of the governors had succeeded in formulating long-term solutions for public transportation.
"I wonder why they were unable to provide low-cost, safe and fast mass transportation for their citizens, while they could build high-rise buildings, towers, apartments and malls," said Anita.
The photo exhibition shows public transportation from the Ali Sadikin administration (1966 to 1977) to the Sutiyoso administration (1997 to date), and shows how each governor had their own perspective in dealing with the problems.
In the 1970s, the administration introduced the limited passenger Patas bus to avoid overcrowding buses, but it failed. While the dysfunctional Patas are still operational, the administration later introduced the air-conditioned Patas buses, double-decker buses, and no-conductor buses to reduce private cars on the street. All to no avail.
In 1996, governor Soerjadi Soedirdja launched a Total Reform System and Jakarta Transportation Management, the embryo of today's transportation plan that includes the Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), Bus Rapid Transit (busway) and water transportation system.
Sutiyoso launched the busway on Jan. 14, 2004, the first route of which connects Kota railway station, West Jakarta, and Blok M bus terminal, South Jakarta.
However, Sutiyoso's modern mass transportation system was criticized for the huge investment needed, while its construction, taking up one lane on busy major thoroughfares, worsened traffic conditions.
The museum's coordinator for exhibitions and education, Sri Kusumawati, said that besides intending to show Jakartans how the governors dealt with the myriad problems of mass transportation in the city, the exhibition also aimed to encourage discussion on the endemic problem.
"It's interesting to note how the governors have tried to solve the problems. Almost all their policies were controversial, including Sutiyoso's plan to build the monorail. The museum hopes that the exhibition will also raise people's awareness so that they contribute solutions to the problem," she said. (006)