T

he city administration and the City Police will form a task force to be deployed to traffic congestion hot spots throughout the city to fight gridlock, according to the city’s top official.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said Friday that the recent Muspida meeting of the city’s top leaders concluded that Jakarta needed a team comprised of officials from the police and the Transportation Agency to manage rain-inspired traffic woes.

“Nowadays, officials are rarely seen at hectic intersections that are clogged by motorcycles, which eventually creates congestion,” Fauzi said.

He said the city and the police would cooperate to map trouble spots, which would then be regularly monitored by the task force.

“Officials will be assigned to manage specific locations, so hopefully, when congestion occurs, they will be ready to ease traffic,” Fauzi said, adding that newly inaugurated Traffic Police chief Sr. Comr. Royke Lumawa had approved the plan.

Fauzi said the task force would also keep the streets around overpasses and pedestrian bridges free of congestion from motorcycle drivers seeking shelter during rain storms.

Officials would also take stern action, including writing tickets, to stop another cause of gridlock: on-street parking, Fauzi said.

“We hope this strategy will help smooth traffic,” he said, adding that the city and the police were still working on the technical details behind the task force’s creation.

The rapid increase in private vehicle ownership in Jakarta — which now is home to 8 million motorcycles and 3 million cars — poor public transportation, inexpensive vehicle prices and the easy availability of credit have all contributed to the city’s traffic problems.

The police previously reported that they process more than 1,000 new motorcycle registration applications every day.

While the city’s plans for Mass Rapid Transit will remain a dream until 2016 and with the TransJakarta busway set to launch only 12 of 15 corridors by 2012, the administration is trying to make some maneuvers to improve the traffic system now.

Recently, the Jakarta Transportation Agency explored the long-questioned idea of staggering working hours.

The agency proposed staggering the start of the business day according to zones: offices in North and Central Jakarta would start work at 7:30 a.m., those in West and East Jakarta at 8 a.m. and those in South Jakarta at 9 a.m. to ease rush hour snarls.

The city suggested the same policy last year after implementing a plan to advance the start of the school day by 30 minutes.