Emmy Fitri

Enrique Penalosa, the former major of Bogota who is currently visiting Jakarta, overcame his city’s traffic problems. (Photo: Safir Makki, JG)

‘Political Will’ The Answer to Jakarta Traffic Chaos

Sprawled out and heaving, Jakarta suffers from traffic thrombosis and everyday battles are fought to move along manic roads choked by private cars, swarming motorbikes, huge lumbering buses overfilled with weary passengers and pedestrians trying to cut through the madness.

Jakarta, it seems, is stuck and the only change predicted is that thing will get worse.

However, the former mayor of Bogota, Colombia, Enrique Penalosa, a man who has faced down similar supposedly insurmountable problems, said on Tuesday that the city’s pain could be eased by applying a different perspective and backing it up with strong political will.

“The only public transportation that solves the problem of mass mobility in Jakarta is the bus,” he said. “Traffic jams are caused by the incredible growth of cars and motorcycles.”

As the man in charge of an equally jammed Bogota from 1998-2001, Penalosa was responsible for taking “get-tough” measures to completely overhaul the city’s floundering public transport system, copping a barrage of criticism along the way.

His initiated Bogota’s public transport service, TransMilenio, which has since proven to be the backbone of the city as it effectively moves large numbers of commuters. Jakarta’s as yet completed busway system, TransJakarta, is based on the Bogota model.

Penalosa noted that while Jakarta seemed poorer than Bogota, it was spread out over twice or even three times more land than the more densely packed Bogota.

“We demolished houses to make way for buses in Bogota and eventually got the cars off the roads completely. This is democracy at work because streets are not only for cars and motorcycles but also for the people,” Penalosa told the Jakarta Globe on the sidelines of a three-day sustainable urban development convention in Jakarta.

Penalosa said that although not the best or the preferred option, buses are the ultimate attainable solution for Jakarta.

By 2014, Jakarta is predicted to have anywhere between 10 million and 14 million vehicles traversing the city unless prompt and proper measures are taken to reduce the vehicle population.

The rapid growth of car and motorcycle numbers seems unstoppable, as critics blame the government’s failure to take a clear stance toward the automotive industry and its inability to provide convenient and humane public transportation.

“The upper-classes will start using public transportation when it moves faster than cars. If a journey takes you one and a half hours by car and only less than 30 minutes by bus, you’ll take the bus even though you’re a millionaire,” the 54-year-old Penalosa said.

He said higher taxes should be imposed for car usage because the world knows that using private cars generates enormous costs to society because they “take up space, kill children and pollute the air.”

“I don’t advocate higher taxes for car ownership. People want to have cars, that’s fine. But when they use them they have to be charged because they are driving on public streets.

“The only way to reduce traffic jams is to restrict car usage. In Bogota we are using a rather dumb way but it is working — via license plate numbers, odd and even numbers to enter the city [on alternative days].”

Penalosa said Jakarta has the potential to become a city for all people. “You have great sidewalks and large roads. Giving space for bicycles and pedestrians is part of a strong political decision. Everyone should have equal rights to use the streets.”

Jakarta is projected to be the world’s fifth-largest city by 2015, but instead of fixing the collapsing, already existing public transportation modes, the capital’s leaders talk loudly of a grand integrated mass rapid transit (MRT) system that will integrate the busway, subway and monorail networks. The latter two services, however, remain a far-off pipe dream due to the absence of financial support and the ever-growing presence of red tape.

Asked whether an MRT for Jakarta was an irrational idea, Penalosa agreed. “The land acquisition and the huge investment needed are enough to provide for more buses and the ability to transport more people through many more routes,” he said.

“But again this problem is not only about money or engineering, it’s about politics.”

The city currently has nine active busway lanes, and one that is still idle. The buses mostly serve Central and South Jakarta.

The TransJakarta busway was launched in January 2004, during the administration of Governor Sutiyoso.

It currently serves more than 160,000 passengers a day and is responsible for cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions at a rate of 20,000 metric tons a year. According to the International Transportation Development Project, which works closely with the city administration, over 20 percent of TransJakarta passengers have switched from using private cars for some trips .

But challenges remain.

Mountains of complaints over the system’s sorry state point to an urgent need for better service, while the objective of discouraging the use of private cars has a long way to go.

“It’s very sad that TransJakarta got off to such a bad start,” Penalosa said.

“It has so many problems in terms of the size of the buses, service, legal issues. Maybe it is a headache for the governor [Fauzi Bowo] and he doesn’t want to think about it because he has inherited this with a lot of problems.

“Those responsible have to realize [that finding a transportation solution] is about right now — or the city will collapse. People can’t move anymore.”

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