Parking triumph may foul traffic: Experts

The Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday in favor of consumer parking rights may backfire and encourage more private vehicle use — which will lead to even more traffic snarls in the city, say transportation experts.

Darmaningtyas, the author of Transportasi Jakarta Menjemput Maut (Transportation in Jakarta Is on the Way to Death), said the decision might have unexpected consequences.

“Thanks to the ruling, motorists will feel more at ease to park their cars. This in turn will prompt people to travel using personally-owned vehicles rather than public transportation,” Darmaningtyas told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

It what some have called a rare win for consumer rights in the country, the Supreme Court upheld Tuesday a Jakarta High Court ruling that ordered parking operator PT Securindo Packatama, better known as Secure Parking, to compensate a customer for a lost car. The court ruled the company had to pay Rp 60 million (US$6,600) to Anny R. Gultom and Hontas Tambunan, who lost their car in a parking lot in Central Jakarta in March, 2000.

Darmaningtyas said the administration should give balanced consideration before revising its regulation after the court’s decision, such as by raising parking fees in certain areas to reduce gridlock.

He doubted that the administration’s plan to restrict motorcycles from entering some city thoroughfares during peak hours would be successful.

“It will not be effective because such a regulation will only move road congestion from one place to another,” he said.

He added that instead of making piecemeal traffic restrictions that effectively encourage people to use private vehicles, the administration should focus on encouraging residents to use public transportation by upgrading the existing system and accelerating the development of a mass rapid transportation (MRT) system.

The administration should raise parking fees to discourage residents from using private cars, University of Indonesia transportation expert Tri Tjahjono said.

Many people opt to use private vehicles since it was arguably cheaper than public transportation, which involves a sacrifice of time and convenience, Tri added.

Darmaningtyas and Tri agreed that the Court’s decision would better protect consumer rights.

“Parking operators should be responsible for the security of their customers’ vehicles,” Darmaningtyas said.

Tulus Abadi of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) said that the administration should require parking operators to implement an insurance scheme to better protect consumer rights.

Better protection may mean higher parking fees, which may in turn encourage people to leave their cars at home and use public transportation, Tulus said.

The administration should be able to provide comfortable public transportation by the time people shift from private cars to public transportation, he added.

Tri said that the administration could use high fees imposed on the parking business to upgrade public transportation. (rch)