J

akarta Governor Fauzi Bowo calls on the central government to quickly complete the drafting of a regulation that would serve as a foundation for the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).

Fauzi said that the ERP could only be implemented in Jakarta’s main thoroughfares, and only with government regulation. The city said the ERP system would apply both to private cars and motorbikes in streets under the three-in-one rule.

“I expected the Transportation Ministry to finish drafting the regulation before Christmas, so there’s no way the city can issue a bylaw unless the government regulation is passed,” Fauzi told reporters at the City Hall.

Fauzi said that the Land Transportation Directorate General had pledged to submit the draft regulation to the State Secretary by the end of December, before it could be approved by the president.

The central government has not issued any regulative frameworks for implementing the 2009 traffic law regarding the ERP.

In the initial plan, city administrators set to apply the ERP for major thoroughfares currently under the three-in-one system. Under the three-in-one rule, enacted in 1994, private cars must have at least three passengers to travel along main thoroughfares from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta twice during rush hours on weekdays.

The City designed the ERP partly to discourage 3-in-1 jockeys, people joining rides for pay, a trick enabling motorists to sidestep the regulation.

Separately on Monday, the City Transportation Agency Chief Udar Pristono said the ERP system is expected to kick off in late 2011 or early 2012.

Udar said the ERP would be implemented 24 hours a day on streets with the 3-in-1 rule, from Jl. Sisingamangaraja, Jl. Jendral Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin, Jl. Merdeka Barat, Jl. Majapahit, Jl. Gajah Mada, Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Jl. Pintu Besar Selatan to Jl. Pintu Besar Utara.

“The 24-hour time frame is used so motorists will be familiar with the schedule. If the time frame is ineffective, we will impose higher prices during rush hours,” Pristiono said.

In the later stages, Udar said the ERP system would extend to ten corridors of TransJakarta Rapid Bus Transit system.

The ten busway routes are Corridor I serving Blok M – Kota, Corridor II Pulogadung – Harmoni, Corridor III Kalideres – Harmoni, Corridor IV Pulogadung – Dukuh Atas, Corridor V Kampung Melayu – Ancol, Corridor VI Ragunan – Kuningan, Corridor VII Kampung Melayu – Kampung Rambutan, Corridor VIII Lebak Bulus – Harmoni, Corridor IX Pinang Ranti – Pluit and Corridor X Cililitan – Tanjung Priok.

“The ERP will be implemented later in Corridor VIII, because there is still not enough public transportation plying the route,” Pristiono said.

A group of NGO’s, the Citizen Coalition for Transportation Demand Management, proposed that city administration set the ERP daily rates between Rp 15,000 (US$1.6) and Rp 30,000 for cars and between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000 for motorcycles, factoring in the current Rp 3,500 ticket price for TransJakarta buses.