Minor glitches in S. Jakarta's car-free event

Tifa Asrianti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 10/13/2008 11:39 AM  |  City

CAR-FREE: Two boys cruise on their bicycles down the express lane on Jl. HR Rasuna Said on Sunday. The city administration held the first traffic respite in that part of the city. (JP/J. Adiguna)

The first Car-Free Day along busy Jl. HR Rasuna Said, South Jakarta went smoothly Sunday, but met with criticism from environmentalists for still allowing private cars and motorcycles to use the thoroughfare's slow lanes.

Alfred Sitorus from the Committee for Phasing Out Leaded Gasoline (KPBB) said the city should enforce the temporary traffic respite more thoroughly.

"What's the use of holding Car-Free Day if private vehicles can still use the slow lane? The purpose of the event is to reduce air pollution, so both the fast and the slow lanes should be cleared of all private vehicles," he said.

HR Rasuna Said runs north-south through the Kuningan area from the Setiabudi Barat dam to Jl. Gatot Subroto. On Sunday the road was supposed to be closed to all private vehicles from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

However, private cars and motorcycles still occupied the road's slow lanes, making a turn to enter Jl. Taman Rasuna and returning to the slow lane from Jl. Nyi Ageng Serang.

Joni Tagor, head of South Jakarta's Environmental Management Board, said his office had cooperated with the transportation agency and the police to manage Sunday's traffic.

He said traffic was diverted to Jl. Taman Rasuna and Jl. Nyi Ageng Serang because a stage had been set up in front of Usmar Ismail Film Center.

During the car-restriction period, musicians presented live performances, a kiosk offered recycled products tree seedlings were distributed for free.

"We intended to close both the slow and fast lanes. We planned to detour traffic to the road next to Cideng canal, but perhaps the transportation agency and the police had other issues since this was the first time we've opened up Rasuna Said," Joni said.

Besides, he added, some housing complexes along Jl. HR Rasuna Said had no alternative access points, such as the Rasuna Epicentrum apartments.

"If those premises had alternate access, we could have cleared the road completely," he said.

South Jakarta municipality had previously organized a traffic respite along Jl. Wijaya. Joni said that event last year was ineffective because the road was short and few buses used it normally, so the difference was not very marked.

Alfred said if the car-restriction zone had been enforced along all lanes, the area could have experienced a 30 to 60 percent decrease in carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter 10 emission.

Alfred said his organization would soon issue an annual report detailing the municipal event's results.

Joni said each municipality was only entitled to hold Car-Free Day twice a year because the allocation for the event rested with the provincial transportation agency.

"We hope the city council can approve next year's budget on time so we can plan for this event. Since we didn't receive final budget approval until July, we could only hold the event once this year."

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