Transportation projects 'won't fix traffic problems'

Transportation projects 'won't fix traffic problems'

JAKARTA (JP): The numerous transportation projects undertaken
by the city administration will not solve Jakarta's traffic
problems, a transportation observer said on Monday.

"The administration plans to build a bus terminal. But if it
is aimed at solving the traffic jams in Pulo Gadung, East
Jakarta, then it's not going to be effective," Suyono Dikun, the
chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society, told The
Jakarta Post.

He was referring to the city administration's plan to
construct a bus terminal in Pulo Gebang, East Jakarta, to replace
the overcrowded terminal in Pulo Gadung.

The administration has also planned to build a subway linking
Blok M in South Jakarta with Kota downtown area in West Jakarta.
Other projects under consideration include the development of
several toll roads and a three-tiered system.

He said he regretted that a feasibility study was not done on
the bus terminal as there may be problems in the future, such as
traffic jams, criminals, street vendors and hoodlums.

He said the city administration should have developed a public
transportation system before embarking on the development of a
transportation infrastructure.

He suggested that the administration develop mass rapid
transportation (MRT) instead and noted the need to improve the
electrical trains.

"People need public transportation that can accommodate a
large number of passengers," Suyono remarked, adding that this
type of transportation would ease traffic jams.

Unlike the MRT, bus terminals create traffic jams as public
buses entering them wait there for passengers.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, an activist from the Jakarta Residents
Forum (Fakta), shared Suyono's view, saying that the city
administration should improve the public transportation system
before developing the infrastructure.

"I don't understand why the administration always proposes to
build the infrastructure instead of concentrating on the system,"
he told the Post.

Azas said the development of the transportation
infrastructure, such as bus terminals, was not well-planned.

"It won't solve the traffic jams," he said, comparing
Jakarta's public transportation infrastructure to that of
Taipei's, which has fewer bus terminals but were better managed,
organized and in suitable locations.

He also suggested the administration to develop the MRT, which
he believed would better solve the transportation problems here.

But he opposed the administration's plan to develop a subway
in the city, saying that the ground was not appropriate for it.

"It would be better to improve the electrical trains as the
MRT here instead of building a subway," Azas said, adding that
the administration would save more money.

"It is about public interest. The administration should be
serious in handling this problem," Azas said.

Separately, a city councillor from Commission D for public
works, development and environmental affairs, Maringan
Pangaribuan, said that public transportation was in poor
condition.

Therefore, City Council supported any transportation system
which could provide the proper facilities which the general
public could afford, he remarked.

"We (the councillors) are continuing to discuss the issue with
the administration and non-governmental organizations," he said,
adding that the council and the non-governmental organization,
the City Transportation Board, were still discussing which public
transportation system to apply here. (04)