Unfair road toll hike

Severe traffic jams on Monday should make the operator of the toll road aware that it is unfair to raise the toll tariff. Officials should take steps to avoid traffic jams in the first place, give information regarding the current state of the toll road and provide solutions, such as asking car drivers to use alternative roads.

The state owned (Jasa Marga) operator of the toll road could actually take such measures, because its communication center is located in the Jagorawi (Jakarta-Bogor-Ciawi) region and has a large network of branches found from Cikampek to Tangerang and from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Tanjung Priok port.

Onsite officials allow cars to enter the toll road, even when there are already traffic jams, because more vehicles mean more income for the operator. Car drivers are only aware of a traffic jam when they are already stuck in it. The continuous inflow of cars worsens the situation on the toll roads, which charge a minimum of Rp 3,000 per car.

Compared to toll roads abroad, our toll roads are actually no different from regular roads. There are no facilities like emergency telephones, noise-breakers, lighting, to help drivers at night. Thus, the cost of the toll road construction and operation in Indonesia is much lower, if you exclude the level of corruption.

The toll road operator cannot say that one need not use the facility if one doesn't like it, because the management is owned by the state, hence also by the public.

The management must instead improve its service and manage the toll roads transparently if it wants to raise its tolls. Many believe that the operator earns enormous profits as the toll roads are always crowded with cars. So is it just mismanagement, greediness or is corruption involved?

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta