Transportation a time-old problem

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)