Transportation a tricky election issue

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 07/25/2007 11:50 AM  |  Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The successes of the city's busway system could give way to dysfunction without concerted effort from the city administration, transportation experts have said.

During a recent transportation forum on the bus rapid transit (BRT) system, as the busway is otherwise known, experts warned the two gubernatorial election candidates that anything less than total commitment to the system would doom the whole project.

Andi Rahmah, a researcher from the Pelangi Indonesia Foundation, which organized the forum, said quality management had not kept pace with the accelerated development of BRT infrastructure.

Seven busway corridors are currently in operation.

Jakarta Transportation Agency official Trisbiantara said tighter screening of companies in the TransJakarta busway consortium was needed to ensure quality management.

All members of the consortium are existing public bus operators in the city.

""The administration should not only look at the companies' internal management, but also how they manage their crews. Look also at their discipline and accident rates,"" he said.

The busway was launched in 2004 to help ease city traffic, which has been blamed as the main source of air pollution in the city.

With the increase in the number of private cars vastly outpacing the one percent annual growth of the Greater Jakarta road network, as well as all-round poor access to public transportation, the experts said they expected the city to reach total gridlock by 2014.

A joint study conducted by the National Development Planning Board and the Japan International Cooperation Agency on the 2003 integrated transportation master plan for Greater Jakarta predicted that by 2020 poor service would have caused the amount of public transportation in the city to drop by 60 percent.

The forum also heard that the BRT had yet to be integrated with other transportation modes such as feeder buses or the railway system.

""The BRT system will fall apart if immediate action is not taken to solve these problems,"" Andi said.

Jakarta-based Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) chairman Bambang Susantono said transportation policy decisions had in the past failed to adequately consider the needs of the public.

""It's important to realize that a change in the transportation system could effectively change people's lifestyles.""

Commenting on transportation infrastructure projects currently underway, Bambang said the building of more overpasses and underpasses had meant ""the pride of being acknowledged as a sophisticated, rich city (has meant) the aesthetic aspect of the city, where people have the right to better public space without visual obstruction, has been overlooked.

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