T

he authorities should have a special account for revenues from electronic road pricing (ERP) in the city to ensure it benefits the public transportation system, observers say.

“The new congestion pricing system must have an independent profit management mechanism. It should go into a separate account to be used to enhance public transportations,” Ari Muhammad from the coalition of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) said Monday.

The administration wants to implement the road pricing system to reduce congestion on main roads in busy hours but the regulatory framework is not yet in place.

The ERP system is expected to replace the existing three-in-one system, by which private cars must carry a minimum of three passengers during peak hours.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said earlier that his office cannot yet implement road pricing since it requires a central government regulate to do so, including the framework for income management.

Vice President Boediono expressed support for ERP recently and ordered his team to speed it up. But nothing much happened yet.

Ari said an effective government regulation on ERP must lay down rules on all aspects of the system.

“It must stipulate the details of the executing instruments and procedures for new traffic management. It must also specify options for the technology that will be used,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, also from the coalition, said he believed people would change bad traffic habits, such as illegal street parking.

“If the city strictly implements the new traffic system, the traffic would be much better,” he said.

Franciscus Trisbiantara, a transportation expert from Trisakti University, said that the new government regulation on traffic should require a specific account to manage revenue from the ERP system.

“They have to create a separate account independent of general tax mechanisms. The profits from the new system will go into the account to be used to improve public transportation including making it more environmentally friendly,” he said.

He added that the profit should be returned to the community.

Franciscus said that he believed people would be willing to pay more for better traffic management.

“The Jakarta administration, as well as local governments across the country, will not implement any such new traffic regulations successfully if they fail to stipulate setting up separate accounts,” he said.

He added that without separate accounts, local governments might misuse new traffic revenue gained from these charges.

“The public won’t trust the system if they cannot see the benefit. In this case, the convenience of public transportation,” he said.

Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono told the Post over the phone Tuesday that his office had just finished making a draft regulation on the new traffic system.

“The Transportation Ministry has created a draft and now we will discuss it with related ministries, such as the Finance Ministry, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and the Home Affairs Ministry,” he said.

Bambang said that the draft regulation stipulated better traffic management and improved traffic engineering, as well as new zoning rules covering parking.

“The draft also specifies the need for traffic impact assessment,” he said. However, he did not mention the need for separate accounts for the system. (ipa)