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Jakarta officials leave cars at home, bike to work
New beginning: A female employee of the Jakarta city administration alights from a public bus in front of City Hall in Jakarta on Friday
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New beginning: A female employee of the Jakarta city administration alights from a public bus in front of City Hall in Jakarta on Friday. The city administration has made it obligatory for civil servants to leave their cars at home on the first Friday of every month. (JP/Jerry Adiguna) (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
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span class="inline inline-none">New beginning: A female employee of the Jakarta city administration alights from a public bus in front of City Hall in Jakarta on Friday. The city administration has made it obligatory for civil servants to leave their cars at home on the first Friday of every month. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
The first day of Jakarta civil servants leaving their official cars at home was considered a success, with most arriving at the office via public transportation or bicycle at City Hall in Central Jakarta on Friday.
Jakarta Education Agency head Taufik Yudi Mulyanto chose to bike to work from his home in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta.
'I've called on all my subordinates, including school principals, to leave their private vehicles at home today. I can't monitor them all at once, but I hope they can be honest,' he said upon arriving at City Hall.
Taufik told journalists he had cycled to work for seven years.
'I've biked from home from my office on Gatot Subroto [South Jakarta] on Tuesday's and Friday's for seven years now. It's actually faster ' it takes 50 minutes by bike and one hour and 15 minutes by car,' he said.
Jakarta Transportation Agency head Udar Pristono chose to take a public minivan and Transjakarta bus on Friday so he could check drivers' compliance with traffic regulations.
'The public minivan driver did not wear a uniform and did not stop at designated stops, so I rebuked him. It's good for officials, as we can directly monitor the implementation of regulations in the field,' he said, adding he hoped other government institutions in the capital would follow suit.
The recently introduced policy obligates city workers to take public transportation on the first Friday of every month. The policy does not apply to officers in emergency services, nor the governor.
Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, however, rode his bike to work from his official residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, as he has done for the past two months.
Deputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama brought the car to work. 'I have granted him permission. He has meetings to attend,' Jokowi said.
Ahok said it would be more practical for him to take the official car when he had to be mobile, saying it could take him two hours on public transportation from his house in Pluit, North Jakarta, to City Hall.
'I can make three decisions in two hours,' he said, adding he often had breakfast in the car.
'I don't want to put on a show with all the security detail accompanying me on a bus or around a bicycle. I prefer to set an example for civil servants by coming in early and going home only after the job is done.'
While criticizing those who took taxis or had family members drop them off at work, Ahok said the administration would provide buses for civil servants to improve the policy's implementation.
Traffic on main thoroughfares such as Jl. Jenderal Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Gatot Subroto was lighter during rush hours on Friday, but the real test will be in February as school children will return to school next week.
Usually, motorists in areas heading to the Semanggi cloverleaf meet congestion from Friday afternoon until evening.
The city police's Traffic Management Center (TMC) only reported busier traffic in Slipi, the inner city toll road in Cawang, East Jakarta, and Tomang toll road heading to Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta during rush hour at about 5 p.m.
