TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Traffic police, city team up for planned bike lanes
The Jakarta Police have announced plans to help the city administration conduct feasibility studies for planned bicycle lanes and assist in resolving technical issues
Change Size
T
he Jakarta Police have announced plans to help the city administration conduct feasibility studies for planned bicycle lanes and assist in resolving technical issues.
The announcement comes in response to the Jakarta city administration’s plan to build bicycle lanes this year.
The city’s traffic police chief, Sr. Comr. Condro Kirono, said Friday a joint team from his office and the Jakarta administration had conducted a series of surveys to map the ideal routes for bicycle lanes along the city’s thoroughfares.
“So far, we think [streets in] South Jakarta are ready [for bicycle lanes],” Condro said as quoted by the police’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) website.
He added the proposed bicycle lanes would almost certainly take over from existing pedestrian sidewalks.
“It’s impossible to build a dedicated bike lane on the road itself, considering the limited space of roads in Jakarta,” Condro said.
“The existing roads are already packed with motor vehicles.
That’s why the only way to make sure we even have bike lanes will be to build them on existing sidewalks.”
With more than 2 million cars and 3.5 million motorcycles taking to the city’s streets every day, Jakarta has long been near the top of the list of the world’s most polluted cities, competing with the likes of Beijing and Mexico City for the dubious honor.
Every year, motorists in the city burn up at least 6 billion liters of fuel.
Transportation experts and members of urban green communities have renewed calls for the building of bicycle lanes throughout the city, citing the increasing number of cyclists in the capital.
Last month, the South Jakarta administration announced it would establish a bicycle lane in a pilot project to connect Lebak Bulus and Jl. Sisingamangaraja, to be completed some time in 2010.
In a recent interview with The Jakarta Post, Wahyu Diartito, from the Bike To Work (B2W) community, said cyclists were not actually demanding special treatment from the city administration.
A key demand, he said, was regulation guaranteeing cyclists the same rights as other motorists to use the road.
“If the administration provided more infrastructure [for cyclists], I’m sure it would attract more
people to leave their vehicles at home and start cycling,” said Wahyu, who chairs the B2W research division.
Established in 2005, B2W has successfully persuaded more than 5,000 residents in Greater Jakarta leave their motor vehicles at home and cycle to their office.
As of August, more than 11,000 people across the nation have officially joined the community.
The B2W community has repeatedly asked the city administration to build more facilities for cyclists, including bicycle lanes and public bicycle parking lots.
It has also urged shopping malls and building operators to do the same.
