Now Jakarta Plans Color-Coding for Cars to Beat Jams

Now Jakarta Plans Color-Coding for Cars to Beat Jams

Three-in-one. Truck bans. Electronic road pricing. With the capital’s traffic woes continuing unabated, the police are now considering a radical new scheme to restrict car use: color.

Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa, the Jakarta Police’s traffic chief, said they were studying a plan to only allow cars of particular colors on the streets each day.

“If the study is completed this month, then in August it might be publicized and hopefully by the end of August it can be implemented,” he said, adding a trial period would last until October.

The scheme has gained favor with the police after they dropped an earlier plan to restrict cars based on whether their license plates ended in odd or even numbers.

“For the odd and even numbered plates, it would have been difficult to implement because not only are they small, they can also be faked,” Royke said.

Nonetheless, the color restriction scheme would only go ahead if the public approved of it, the traffic chief said.

“If this study is accepted by the public, then we will go ahead with it. If not, then we won’t,” he said, adding that the restriction would only apply to private vehicles.

Royke said the classification of cars would be dark and light colors, although he added the police were yet to determine which colors belonged to which group. “Where multiple colors are concerned, we will see which color is dominant,” he added.

Royke said a list of colors for each category would be announced during the introductory period. Where and during which times the restriction would apply would also be determined at a later date, although the scheme would most likely cover major thoroughfares that also accommodated busway lanes, including Jalan Gatot Subroto, Jalan M.H. Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman, as well as the Kuningan, Warung Buncit, Daan Mogot and Pondok Indah areas.

He also said the restriction would initially only be utilized two days a week and only during rush hour.

Meanwhile, Royke said his office was still working with the city on a study to determine the appropriate price for an electronic road pricing system.

He said the police wanted the fee to be high enough to discourage private car use. “Between Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000 should be the ideal range,” he said, adding that it should not be cheaper than traffic fines otherwise “it would be nonsense.”

Royke said both schemes should be accompanied by better parking facilities and improved public transportation.

Jakarta’s deputy governor, Prijanto, said the city was looking to expand the busway network with as many as 44 buses to be purchased this year.

The city is also awaiting the first stage of a rail-based mass rapid transit system, he said. Construction is scheduled to begin next year, with the system expected to be in operation by 2016.

Danang Parikesit, chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), a nongovernmental group, told the Jakarta Globe that the planned restrictions should only come into effect after adequate, comfortable and reliable public transportation was made available.

“There are about 20 million commuters, but only 4.8 million seats available on public transportation in Greater Jakarta every day,” he said.

Danang said it was important for the government to improve public transportation, particularly the busway network, by adding more routes, more vehicles and increasing capacity.

Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said they were looking at Singapore’s ERP system to help determine an appropriate price. They will also consider toll road fees and the cost of hiring “jockeys” to get around the 3-in-1 carpool rule, he said.

Zaky Pawas & Elisabeth Oktofani

Jakarta Parking Ban Upsets Shop Owners

Jakarta Parking Ban Upsets Shop Owners

The Jakarta City Council urged transportation officials on Thursday to review a recently imposed parking ban in the city’s center following a wave of complaints from local businesses. 

“We ask the Jakarta Transportation Office to review the implementation of the on-street parking ban along Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Hayam Wuruk, or see if it can be implemented only in certain areas at certain times,” said Selamat Nurdin, head of the council’s Commission B. 

He spoke after meeting with businessmen, parking attendants and other employees who work in the area.

The ban began on Monday to clear parked cars along the busy thoroughfares that span Central and West Jakarta. During a one-month socialization period, cars found parked along the roads will be towed or clamped, but owners will not be fined until the month is up. 

“Parked cars outside shops and restaurants along both streets take up valuable road space and causes daily congestion,” said Bernhard Hutajulu, the head of traffic management at the Jakarta Transportation Office. 

“On average, about 660 parked cars take up three lanes of the roads. If these lanes were freed up, we estimate traffic capacity could increase by an extra 1,800 cars an hour.” 

Bernhard said there were 1,355 off-street parking spaces in the area, including at buildings such as Duta Merlin, the Pelni office, Gajah Mada Plaza, Hayam Wuruk Plaza, Lindeteves Trade Center and Hotel Grand Paragon that were safer than parking by the side of the road. 

However, local businessmen suggested during the council meeting that there was a hidden agenda behind the policy. 

“I am sure there is a mafia who wants to take control of the Gajah Mada area, and they want to buy our land at a cheap price and the city is taking their side,” said Lieus Sungkharisma, a shop owner on Gajah Mada. 

Willy Rentamzil, another Gajah Mada businessman, said that not long after the ban began, an individual visited him offering to buy his land for a cheap price, citing the decline in customers. 

“The on-street parking ban is obviously not just to manage Gajah Mada’s traffic,” Willy said. 

Lieus claimed the barely week-old ban had already made a big impact on local businesses and the livelihood of people working in the area. 

“For people like me, businessmen, we will probably still be OK if we lose our income in Gajah Mada. What about our employees, the parking attendants and street vendors?” he said. 

The administration has promised that 160 affected street parking attendants in the area will be moved elsewhere. 

Tatak Suwita, who owns a paint shop on Gajah Mada, said the ban was unfairly penalizing businesses in the area when they were not the cause of the traffic. 

“If we’re talking about on-street parking causing heavy traffic on Jalan Gajah Mada, the Jakarta Transportation Office needs to see where it happens most of the time,” he said. 

“It happens usually in front of the Central Jakarta District Court, and most of the court’s visitors double-park. Most of the shoppers, meanwhile, don’t park a long time. They just come and go quickly.” 

Aca Sugandhy, an urban planning expert at the University of Indonesia, agreed with the city administration, saying the ban on on-street parking was a step in the right direction. 

H e said the city still needed to come up with a longer-term plan to effectively reduce traffic congestion in the area. 

“The administration needs to make a long-term traffic plan to reduce the heavy traffic along Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Hayam Wuruk because there will be more cars in the near future,” he said.

Locals Offer Advice to Combat Traffic Gridlock

Locals Offer Advice to Combat Traffic Gridlock

Acap on private vehicle ownership, coupled with a comfortable and reliable public transportation system, is just the ticket to solve Jakarta’s traffic woes, residents said on Tuesday. 

Faozan Latief, 24, told the Jakarta Globe that he wished there were fewer cars choking the city’s streets. 

“I’d say that living in Jakarta is like living in hell, because other than wasting so much time in traffic, we also waste money on commuting,” he said. “So the only thing that the government can do to reduce private vehicle ownership is impose a high vehicle tax.” 

He added that the next logical move would be to expand the current public transportation network to accommodate former and would-be private commuters. 

“The government also needs to provide proper public transportation and optimize the TransJakarta busway by adding more buses, so we don’t have to wait in line for ages,” Faozan said. 

Novieta Tourisia, 23, agreed that the busway system needed to be improved if it were to entice commuters away from their cars and motorcycles.

“The government needs to enlarge the city’s busway system and introduce a restriction on private vehicle ownership, because right now, it is too easy for anyone to get a car or motorbike,” she said. 

But she also said the government needed to crack down on the angkot , the ubiquitous minibuses that stop at random and take up entire lanes of already crowded roads while gathering passengers. 

“We all know that angkots stop whenever and wherever the driver pleases,” she said. 

“Therefore the government needs to enforce the transportation law seriously, because angkots are one of the reasons why Jakarta has such heavy traffic congestion.” 

Fauzana Fidya Rizky, a local university student, said the burden should not rest solely on the authorities. She said it was also up to the community to ensure that public transportation facilities were properly maintained. “Although I drive, if the facilities were improved, I wouldn’t mind taking public transportation,” she said. 

“Take the busway shelters, for instance. Some of them have been damaged by vandals who simply didn’t have a sense of social responsibility They don’t understand these facilities are for us, the citizens.” 

She added that without a sense of ownership over public facilities, “people won’t care about helping the government maintain the facilities.”