Developers urged to provide mass transits

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/09/2008 11:22 AM  |  City

Developers of housing estates in the outskirts of Jakarta should provide public transport facilities to help cut the number of vehicles flooding the city every day, experts say.

"It is important to integrate (more) residential areas with (the busway's) shuttle buses to make it easy for people to connect with public transport," Tri Harso Karyono, professor of architecture at Tarumanagara University, told a tropical-housing seminar Tuesday.

He said good public transport facilities would encourage commuters to leave their cars at home to save fuel and energy.

Tri said local governments and transport providers should also work together to provide a range of transport options other than the busway-related system, such as regular buses with direct links to larger bus stations, trains or monorails.

"Providing proper and comfortable vehicles will encourage people to take public transport instead of driving their cars," Tri said.

Jakarta has the second-highest motorcycle ownership out of seven Asian countries surveyed, with 339 motorcycles for every 1,000 people, according to a 2004 international collaborative study conducted in Asia under the STREAM project.

Jakarta also has about 180 cars per 1,000 people, compared with 50 per 1,000 in Shanghai.

The high level of private vehicle ownership is the consequence of high property prices, which force people working in Jakarta to live in neighboring cities, the study said.

The study showed the population in Greater Jakarta remained relatively steady between 1980 and 2000, at around 7 or 8 million people, while the population in neighboring cities grew from 9 million in 1990 to about 14 million in 2000.

Several developers have already tried to link their areas with public transportation.

Bumi Serpong Damai in Tangerang, for example, is connected with trains and busway shuttle buses.

Several residential areas in Depok have sought to become integrated with the city train network.

However, some services were marred by unreliable schedules and a limited number of available carriages.

During the seminar, communication expert Yuwana Mardjuka from Sahid University said the car culture was already strong among people who live in areas on the outskirts of the capital, such as Bekasi, Depok or Bogor.

He said people only chose to live far from the city center because they believed they could drive to work every day.

Yuwana said providing public transport to these residential areas was not enough to effect change.

"People need good examples from their local leaders to change their habits," he said.

He said Indonesians usually follow advice from their patrons or leaders in their daily life.(trw)

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.