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Cyclists say lanes not enough, bylaws to ensure safety needed
Following the news that the Jakarta Transportation Agency plans to establish 30 new bicycle lanes across the capital, cycling groups have aired complaints that providing new infrastructure is not enough to guarantee the safety and comfort of the cityâs cyclists
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ollowing the news that the Jakarta Transportation Agency plans to establish 30 new bicycle lanes across the capital, cycling groups have aired complaints that providing new infrastructure is not enough to guarantee the safety and comfort of the city's cyclists.
'A new bylaw must be created to ensure the safety of cyclists, or else these lanes will be taken over by motorcycles and even buses,' the chairman of Indonesia's largest cycling organization Bike2Work (B2W), Toto Sugito, told The Jakarta Post.
It was reported on Friday that the Transportation Agency hoped to build 30 bicycle lanes in Jakarta in order to encourage people to cycle and eventually decrease the city's air pollution. The paths would be built along several roads, such as Jl. Jenderal Sudirman (Central and South Jakarta), Jl. Salemba Raya (Central Jakarta), Jl. Pasar Jumat (South Jakarta), Jl. Pemuda (East Jakarta) and Jl. Benyamin Sueb (North Jakarta).
Agency head Muhammad Akbar told the Post that the agency hopes to complete the paths by the end of next year.
'We will provide different types of lanes depending on the roads. Some will have separators to keep the lanes exclusive, while other lanes will just be painted on,' he said, adding that street signs will be provided to stop motorists from entering the lanes.
Akbar assured that the agency would work together with the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and the police to ensure the cyclists' safety.
Toto said that the idea behind the 30 new lanes is not a new one. B2W had previously proposed the exact same routes to the city administration with the help of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), the Jakarta Green Map project and several other cycling groups.
The city administration had previously developed bicycle paths by the East Flood Canal (KBT) in East Jakarta and in Blok M, South Jakarta, Toto said, but both were rarely used by cyclists because motorcycles, cars and street vendors obstructed the lanes.
According to Article 49 of the 2009 Traffic and Transportation Law, Toto said, the government is obligated to provide bicycle lanes. However, a bylaw must be created to prioritize cyclists' rights to the road against motorized vehicles so that law enforcers had a basis to provide protection to cyclists, he said.
Separately, Indonesia Antique Bicycle Community (Kosti) chairman Fahmi Saimama said he completely supported the Transportation Agency's plans for the new lanes. However, many bicycle groups had been pushing the city administration for years to create a new bylaw specifically to protect cyclists.
'We [the cycling groups] have been pushing for a bylaw instead of a law because they are more specific and quicker to process,' he said.
Karfianda 'Rio' Suryoutoro of Fixietas said that a bylaw would not only make sure that law enforcers protected cyclists, but would raise the public's awareness of the rising number of cyclists in Jakarta.
'We can see from the failures of the KBT and Blok M lanes that maybe Jakarta residents are not ready for bicycle lanes yet. However, if a bylaw is produced then at least people will know that we exist in this city,' he said. (fss)
