T

he decision by the Jakarta administration to extend a ban on trucks traveling on four sections of the inner-city toll road for one month after a limited five-day trial during the organization of the 18th ASEAN Summit last weekend has won the support of Jakartans as it has produced good results of relatively smooth traffic flow within the inner-city toll road.

The ban, which is imposed from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily, has proven to be successful in reducing traffic loads within the inner-city toll road and thus reduced the travel time needed by Jakartans using personal vehicles or public transportation to reach their destinations within the capital city.

Jakarta has so far been planning to impose a total ban on trucks traveling on the inner-city toll road, aimed at easing congestion on the city’s roads, especially during rush hours.

However, nothing is perfect. And that includes the restriction, which is indeed in its trial period for a month. The policy has drawn strong protests from the business community, complaining of a double increase in travel expenditures, a double increase in travel time and almost a double increase in travel distance of their truck fleets.

So strong is the opposition from the business community that the Jakarta chapter of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) has threatened to organize a massive strike of some 9,000 organization members next Friday.

The ban has also been strongly criticized by the management of the city’s Tanjung Priok seaport – the country’s main entry/exit point of goods – as it has affected and interrupted the loading/uploading and distribution activities in the supposed 24-hour-operating seaport.

The imposition of the administration’s new policy has been controversial since its conception. Initially meant to significantly reduce the usually severe traffic congestion within the city, particularly its inner-city toll road, during the ASEAN Summit, the administration has — without prior notice or consultation with the related business community — decided to extend the truck ban.

Should the administration have carefully planned for such limited operational hours and traffic rerouting for the trucks, it would have issued notice on the ban in advance. Such an early notice is necessary as it would give the truck owners enough time to anticipate the traffic reroute and inform their customers of possible extended delivery times as well as potential increases of their service fares.

The administration should have also discussed the new policy with the Tanjung Priok port operator, as the movement of trucks and container carriers to and from the seaport has a significant share of the increased traffic load on the city’s streets and inner-city toll road.

Apart from its immediate impacts on the business community, the effectiveness of the policy in the long run is also questionable. Unless there is a carefully planned grand strategy on efforts to ease maddening traffic jams in the capital city, the operational hour restriction and traffic reroute for trucks will prove to be less and less meaningful in the future.

Measures such as restrictions on private vehicle ownership through strict imposition of progressive taxation, selected access of major thoroughfares and improved and expanded public transportation services should also be the immediate priorities in the administration’s policy.

The restriction policy for trucks is a good start. But good is not enough, as more efforts are needed to soothe traffic problems in the capital city.