Making Peace with Distance and Minimal Facilities

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

A simple house under construction in the housing area of the integrated city of Citra Maja Raya, Lebak, Banten, Tuesday (24/4/2018). Kota Baru Maja is designed to follow areas based on mass transportation such as the commuter line.

The location of his residential area in Maja, Lebak regency, Banten is about 75 kilometers from his office but the long distance does not discourage Bondan (31) from buying there because he believes the area will become a new city in the future.

Traveling by commuter train for two hours, he can easily reach his office in Tebet, South Jakarta. However, when the number of commuter train passengers was limited during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bondan had no other option but to travel 150 kilometers or for about five hours by motorcycle.

Bondan did not mind at all about the transportation problem. "Yes, it\'s a long way, but just think of it like a tour," he said with a chuckle during a conversation earlier last week.

Making peace with distance and minimal facilities has become a bitter pill to swallow for young workers and low-income people who wish to own a house in Jabodetabek. Due to the government\'s lack of planning in the past, low-income people can now only afford houses on the outskirts of Jakarta. Commuting tens of kilometers every day has become normality and must be accepted.

Yes, it\'s a long way, but just think of it like a tour.

Bondan acknowledged there were no shopping malls near his house. The nearest hospital is located about an hour away by motorcycle. In fact, the internet network is also still not stable. But he believed his decision to buy a house two years ago in the area at a price of Rp 280 million through a 15 year-mortgage was the right choice.

Maybe, for Bondan, the life is a gamble. Bondan bets that in the future, the residential area where he lives will grow into an independent and lively area, following a number of large, well-known housing estates around Jakarta. Later, the hardships he is now experiencing will be paid off with the comfort of living in a new city that continues to grow.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

An aerial photo of a housing estate in Setiasih Village, Tarumajaya District, Bekasi Regency, West Java, Thursday (30/9/2021).

Losing the convenience of megapolitan facilities is the price young Jakartan workers have to pay if they want to own a house.

Anna (30) experienced a similar “sacrifice”, although to a lesser extent. The young woman, who works for a private company whose office is located in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta, chose to move 20 kilometers away from a rooming house in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, to Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, to get his first house.

“The first thing I had to sacrifice was the access to the city center. In the past, the rooming house where I stayed was close to everywhere. Now, living far away and going to the office has become harder,” said Anna, who has lived in her own house since early September.

Public transportation

Knowing that affordable houses can only be found on the outskirts of Jakarta, Anna sets accessibility as a top priority. The prospective home must be at least close to two modes of public transportation.

She began the hunt for a house in February 2021 and found one, a 60-square-meter house, located about 7 kilometers from the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta, also not far from the Ciracas LRT station. "When looking for a house, accessibility is the priority, such as within the existing public transportation network," said Anna.

With the existing condition, Nicke Meryanty (28), a production house employee, said she should be realistic. A residence located far from the capital city should not be a problem as long as it can be reached by public transportation, such as train or bus, she added.

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She realized, with her minimum wage, she did not have many options. For her, the dream house is located tens of kilometers from the workplace or located in the buffer zone of Jakarta.

While saving for the advanced payment for securing home loans, she is now living in a rooming house in South Jakarta. It is located not far from the Transjakarta and MRT stops, so she does not have to spend a lot of money to travel, especially to the city center.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Passengers of the Commuterline KRL to Tanah Abang Station, Jakarta, Monday (20/9/2021). Commuterline trains are a mainstay for Jabodetabek residents who work in Jakarta.

Near the city center

However, for other young people, the close distance from the bustling center of Jakarta is not something that can be negotiated. Bowo (29), an employee of a non-government organization, said his decision to stay at a rooming house in Cipete, South Jakarta, was right, because it was close to his office. The house was also located in a convenient area, he added.

“The ideal place to live is close to Jakarta. If it\'s far, the travel time is longer and that time is money," said Bowo.

Bowo might be right. From the analysis of data on population distribution of the Global Human Settlement Layer 2015 and the locations of public transportation nodes, only about half of the population in Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi are connected to commuter train stations and toll gates within a radius of 5 kilometers. These three areas are the locations for affordable houses for young workers with a Jakarta minimum wage.

The long distances and the lack of housing facilities are a challenge for young workers and low-income people in choosing the locations of their dream houses in Jabodetabek. The government and the private sector not only need to provide facilities for low-income people to buy a house, but also have to provide public transport access and adequate public facilities.

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The study entitled "Stress that Doesn\'t Pay: The Commuting Paradox" by Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey of the University of Basel, Switzerland (2008), shows the expected benefits of long-distance commuting, such as a job with a good salary and a good place to live, were not worth the stress of the trip. People who commute long hours actually show lower well-being and life satisfaction.

“For many people, commuting creates stress that isn\'t really worth the benefits,” Stutzer and Frey wrote at the conclusion of their article.

Research by Annie Barreck from the University of Montreal, Canada (2015), even mentions that the risk of burnout increased significantly if the duration of commuting exceeded 20 minutes. In the future, it is possible that these young workers from Jakarta will live outside Bodetabek, as house prices continue to rise.

Like Bondan, Anna and Nickey, they are willing to live tens of kilometers away from Jakarta, as long as there is access to public transportation and adequate public facilities. . (SPW/PUT/DAN/XNA).

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi