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overnor Fauzi Bowo insists that the present program he devised to deal with traffic problems is the best solution to meet the 2020 deadline set by the central government.

In fact, Fauzi said that his plan, even without a breakthrough, would significantly reduce traffic congestion in the city by 2014. “A demand for a new breakthrough would be very difficult, if not impossible. It it would be irrational to do so,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, in a meeting with ministers and executives of state-owned enterprises, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Fauzi must solve the worsening traffic problems in the city by 2020.

In his closing remark at the meeting, Yudhoyono said that Fauzi should make a significant improvement to the traffic situation by 2014.

“Pak Fauzi does not have to wait until 2020. At least by 2014, people in Jakarta should experience better traffic conditions,” Yudhoyono said.

He said that unless drastic measures were taken to deal with traffic problems, Jakarta would soon see a massive gridlock extending to residential areas.

“If no action is taken, we won’t even be able to drive our cars from our garages. So we need to do something to prevent it,” Yudhoyono said.

Fauzi said that his programs to deal with traffic included the construction of a new mode of transportation, as well as revitalizing the existing mass transportation system.

Fauzi said that the plan would do away with construction of new roads.

“Building new roads will be a very slow process. In the last two years, we have only been able to add 0.01 percent new roads. This is miniscule compared to the growth of private vehicles in the city,” he said.

Fauzi said the revitalization project would include the revamping of the TransJakarta bus rapid transit system, revitalizing the commuter train system and the construction of the mass rapid transit (MRT) system.

So far the project have been quite successful, he said.

“We have seen an increasing number of people using TransJakarta buses and also the inner-city commuter train,” he said.

Fauzi also added that more people now adopt the park-and-ride mode, where commuters leave
their private vehicles at bus or railway stations before using public transportation.

TransJakarta already has 10 routes connecting suburban areas to the city’s downtown. In the next two years, the city expects to build more routes, Corridor 11 connecting Kampung Melayu and Pulo Gebang in East Jakarta and Corridor 12 connecting Pluit and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta.

The city dropped its initial plans to have 15 routes operating by the end of 2012.

Earlier this year, the Jakarta City Council had blasted Fauzi and demanded that the Governor to do more to solve the city’s worsening traffic congestion problems.

The administration has allocated Rp 1.36 trillion for new roads and completing the TransJakarta system. The funds would also cover the construction and operation of an integrated urban railway system that would include the MRT, commuter trains, monorails and refurbishment of street buses.

There are already 11.3 million motor vehicles in the city, of which 8.2 million are motorcycles, with only a total of 7,650 kilometers of road available.

It is estimated that 1,500 new motorcycles and more than 500 new cars are introduced to the capital’s streets every day.

It is expected that by 2011, there will be around 12 million private vehicles clogging the capital’s
roads, and total gridlock will occur by 2014 if the rate of vehicle ownership continues.