Will 2004 usher in new traffic woes?

Will 2004 usher in new traffic woes?

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Traffic in Jakarta has been a chronic problem for years. The
capital's 7,500 kilometers of roads cannot accommodate its
approximately 4.7 million vehicles -- of which only 315,000 are
public transportation vehicles.

To overcome the problem, the city administration has proposed
the implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), or busway
system, and an elevated monorail to encourage its citizens to
switch from private vehicles to public transportation.

The poor service from public transportation companies,
however, might deter commuters from their use.

For example, the most expensive city buses -- supposedly air-
conditioned and limited in passenger capacity -- turned out to be
the same as regular intercity buses, with passengers forced to
stand during peak hours amid the never-ending congestion. The
tickets, however, still cost Rp 3,500 (41 U.S. cents), whereas
regular buses charge Rp 1,200.

A similar scene can be seen on commuter trains -- diesel or
electric -- but with passengers preferring to sit atop the cars
because of lack of seating inside. Several people have been
killed by electrocution, while others have died from falling off
the roof.

The central government's policy allowing modified, large
vehicles to enter the market has worsened traffic in Jakarta.

Luxurious and expensive cars can be seen driving along the
city's major thoroughfares daily, while residents on the
outskirts of Jakarta enjoy cruising in affordable motorcycles.

Can the busway or monorail system replace private vehicles?

The question was raised when the city started constructing
shelters and lane dividers for the busway, which will take up one
lane of the already jammed roads from Blok M, South Jakarta, to
Kota, West Jakarta.

Even before the officiation of the busway, scheduled for Jan.
15, Jakartans are suffering from the heightened congestion caused
by the new structure.

To alleviate some of the congestion, private vehicles have
been advised to take four alternative roads paralleling the
busway lane. The administration and police are clearing these
roads from street vendors and illegally parked cars.

With only 56 buses available -- currently being assembled in
Magelang, Central Java -- to transport around 60,000 passengers,
many doubt that the busway, which has a capacity of only 20,000,
will solve traffic problems without creating more.

However, the city is guaranteeing feeder services to transport
people from residential areas to the Blok M or Kota bus terminal
and along the corridor.

With a fee of Rp 2,500 per passenger, residents are wondering
how much additional costs the feeder services would entail.

Ticket prices for feeders services will be Rp 2,900 for Zone
A, inside Jakarta, and Rp 3,800 for Zone B, outside Jakarta.

The administration has also decided to extend and expand the
three-in-one traffic policy, which rules that a car must have at
least three passengers when traveling in a particular area during
certain hours.

The policy -- currently applied to vehicles entering Jl.
Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin during the morning rush hour from 6:30
a.m. to 10 a.m. -- will be expanded to cover the 12.9-kilometer
busway route. The city will also extend the policy to the evening
rush hour, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The three-in-one policy is considered a failure, as many
motorists pick up joki -- people who offer services to pose as
passengers for a minimal fee -- in order to enter the restricted
areas.

Before the busway materialized, Governor Sutiyoso had already
signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia's M Trans
Holding for the construction of a 27-kilometer, dual-line
elevated monorail.

The monorail is to connect Bekasi to the east and Tangerang to
the west of the capital.

M Trans Holding and PT Indonesian Transit Central have
invested some US$540 billion in the project.

One of the lines is a 14.8-kilometer circular line, called the
Green line, which is to serve the capital's golden triangle area
of Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan.

The Green line will serve 16 stations: Senayan Sports complex,
Plaza Senayan, the Jakarta Convention Center, Taman Ria Senayan,
the House of Representatives, Pejompongan, Karet, Sudirman,
Setiabudi, Kuningan, Taman Rasuna, Casablanca, Gran Melia, Satria
Mandala Museum, Jakarta Police Headquarters and the Jakarta Stock
Exchange.

The other line, the 12.2-kilometer Blue line, is to connect
Kampung Melayu to the east and Roxy to the west.

This line will serve 13 stations: Kampung Melayu bus terminal,
Tebet, Saharjo, Menteng Dalam, Casablanca, Ambassador, Dharmala
Sakti, Menara Batavia, Karet, Kebon Kacang, Tanah Abang, Cideng
and Roxy.

In Kampung Melayu, an interchange will connect the monorail
with the bus terminal. Monorail trains there will enjoy feeder
services from large, medium and small buses for intercity
connections.

In Tebet, the monorail will be integrated with a conventional
railway station that serve Bogor-Kota trains.

At the Sudirman or Duku Atas station, an interchange will link
the monorail with busway and commuter train passengers from
Serpong and Bekasi.

Most of the other monorail stations will be in downtown
Jakarta.

However, the ambitious plan has been slammed by analysts and
experts because a monorail had never been mentioned in the city
transportation development plan. It was not even included in the
Jakarta macro-transportation draft plan, which is the main
reference for the development of the transportation system.

The Jakarta macro-transportation plan has been designed to
develop transportation until 2020. Under the plan, the busway
will form the backbone of public transportation by 2007, before
the city develops other mass rapid transit systems like subways
and other rail-based transportation.

By the end of 2007, Jakarta plans to have at least seven
busway corridors and seven more will have been completed by the
end of 2010.

The development of railways, including the expansion of its
existing network, is scheduled to kick off in 2007 and is
expected to finish in 2020.

The macro-transportation plan also sees rivers as an
alternative. Of the 13 rivers flowing through the capital, the
West Flood Canal and the East Flood Canal currently being
constructed are key to developing a 43.8km water transportation
system.

All these plans, however should not raise ivory towers for the
administration -- they must listen to the people who use public
transportation and roads every single day, before deciding upon
the most appropriate plan.

The launch of the busway on Jan. 15 will be the real test for
the administration in developing its macro-transportation system.
Should it fail, the administration must think of a wiser way to
overcome traffic woes in Jakarta.

Basic facts on Jakarta transportation:

* 700,000 people from the 12.6 million Greater Jakarta population
travel to Jakarta every day

* Number of vehicles : 4.97 million

* Number of private cars: 1.5 million

* Number of motorcycles: 2.79 million

* Number of public vehicles: 315,000

* 82 percent of private cars take only two passengers

* A single bus has a maximum capacity of 60 passengers

* A bus passenger uses 0.75 square meters of road space

* A private car passenger takes up 3.3 sqm of road space

* Private vehicles occupy 88 percent of road space

* Public vehicles occupy 12 percent of road space

* Traffic jams occur along 81.3 percent of feeder roads

* Health cost caused only by particulate molecule (PM10)
pollutants reached Rp 5.79 trillion in 1999

From various sources