Jakarta is increasingly focusing on transit-oriented development. It is thus time to control the use of private vehicles as one of the main causes of traffic congestion by optimizing public transportation use.
By
ERIKA KURNIA
·5 minutes read
FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN
Traffic jam on Jalan KH Abdullah Syafei, South Jakarta, on Thursday (15/12/2022) morning.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – To reduce congestion and build a better city, Jakarta is shifting increasingly from private vehicle-oriented development to streamlining transit-oriented development. However, the sheer number of private vehicles, the major cause of traffic congestion in the capital city, still needs to be controlled.
It was very congested on Jl. Gatot Subroto at the Slipi Petamburan junction in Central Jakarta on Thursday morning (12/15/2022), with vehicles stuck in three lanes for at least 1 kilometer.
Among the queues, one or two cars tried to move into faster lanes, though they should not have. These kinds of decisions that drivers make only worsen the flow of traffic.
Alongside the passenger cars, two-wheeled vehicles wove down the shoulder of the road. Some even squeezed in between the long lines of cars from the overpass intersecting with Jl. Tentara Pelajar. Several motorcyclists grew so desperate that they took the TransJakarta busway lane.
The traffic jams seen on Jl. Gatot Subroto and Tentara Pelajar are commonplace across the capital.
“People are going about their business like in 2019, before the pandemic. Certainly, movement and transportation are increasing,” the Greater Jakarta MetropolitanRegional Police (Polda Metro Jaya) traffic director, Sr. Comr. Latif Usman, said in Jakarta on Thursday (15/12).
Apart from increased activity, construction and maintenance of public infrastructure have also contributed to road congestion.
People are going about their business like in 2019, before the pandemic. Certainly, movement and transportation are increasing.
The TomTom Index report conducted on 3-9 Dec. 2022, showed that the average congestion level exceeded that of the same period in 2021, and was only slightly lower compared to 2019.
Road traffic typically peask at 5 p.m. and on certain weeks, traffic jams reached almost 90 percent on three days. This means that travel time on those days was 90 percent longer compared to days without congestion.
The advocacy and community affairs head of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), Djoko Setijowarno, said the central government’s policies on the nation’s automotive industry had a significant impact on Jakarta, as it was the biggest market in the country.
FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN
Traffic jam on Jalan Sultan Agung, South Jakarta, Thursday (15/12/2022) morning.
In 2005, motorcycle sales reached a record-breaking 5.089 million units, compared to sales of less than 3 million units since 2000, with annual sales growth of 6-7 million vehicles in the following years.
Car sales volume increased again in 2013 as a result of the energy-efficient and affordable motorized vehicles (KBH2) policy, also known as low-cost green cars (LCGCs). Moreover, no luxury sales tax (PPnBM) was imposed on LCGCs.
Factors that have led to the economic slowdown, such as inflation due to rising fuel costs as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, have dented motorcycle sales by just 10-15 percent. Now, sales figures have returned to the levels before these disruptions occurred.
Data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) found that since the introduction of the LCGC, car sales have exceeded 1 million units every year, excepting the peak years of the pandemic in 2020-2021. Passenger car sales in Jakarta make up 19-20 percent of the national total.
Indonesia Statistics (BPS) noted that in 2021, Jakarta had 4.1 million cars and 16.5 million motorcycles, whereas the capital had only 2.8 million cars and 14 million motorcycles in 2014.
Restrict, not prohibit
The increase in the number of cars, which correlates with high sales, however, is not the problem. The automotive industry is a regional and national economic lever.
“It is fine for people to own cars. However, to overcome congestion, it is necessary to limit the use of private vehicles,” said the MTI’s Djoko.
The city’s residents have been provided with alternative modes of transportation that are safe, comfortable and meet their needs.
For this reason, and to avoid having to continually address congestion on Jakarta’s roads, now is the time to implement strict restrictions on the use of private vehicles while at the same time, accelerate the development of existing public transportation.
The electronic road pricing (ERP) policy must be implemented immediately along with progressive parking rates, or high taxes on private vehicles. This must be accompanied by appropriate and transparent subsidies for developing mass transit services.
“This is the era of Acting Jakarta Governor Heru Budi Hartono, who [apparently] has no political interests. It is better to push these policies now. It hasn’t been done so far, because the provincial administration lacks the courage,” he said Djoko.
Urban observer and lecturer Yayat Supriatna from Trisakti University said restricting the use of private vehicles was appropriate in those areas of Jakarta that had sufficient public transportation services.
Furthermore, this was also supported by the transit-oriented development (TOD) policy included in the city’s 2022 detailed spatial plan (RDTR).
The construction of park-and-ride facilities in the city outskirts would also offer a solution for residents of neighboring cities who, due to limited public transportation, still needed to use private vehicles to travel to Jakarta.
