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Jakarta Post

Editorial: Frustrating weekend traffic

Weekends should be the time for families living in urban areas to bond, by dining out, visiting relatives or traveling, but often traffic congestion stands between them and their bid to maintain their ties of kinship

The Jakarta Post
Sat, September 20, 2014

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Editorial:  Frustrating weekend traffic

W

eekends should be the time for families living in urban areas to bond, by dining out, visiting relatives or traveling, but often traffic congestion stands between them and their bid to maintain their ties of kinship. The roads of Jakarta and its neighboring cities have never been kind to these families.

To protect their peoples'€™ right to leisure time, the governments of Bogor and Bandung are considering banning cars with Jakarta license plates from entering their cities on weekends, as they say these cars '€œinvade'€ the two West Java cities each weekend, making a big contribution to traffic gridlock there.

Bogor Deputy Mayor Usmar Hariman said his boss Bima Arya had set up a special team to formulate a ban, which is expected to take effect early next year. Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil hinted at the ban after a meeting with Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama on Tuesday.

The prohibition does not make sense and it violates the right of Indonesian citizens to move anywhere within the republic. The policy also defies the fact that the arrival of domestic tourists from Jakarta has for years helped the economies of Bogor and Bandung grow. In 2010 for example, Bandung raised Rp 176 billion (US$14.7 million) from the tourist sector in the form of various tax revenues.

Worse, the ban may incite retaliation from local governments where the people are affected, or may inspire other regions to follow suit. This will not solve the problem.

That many Jakarta families travel to Bogor and Bandung on weekends or holidays does not come as a surprise as the two cities have a lot of tourist sites. Hotels, restaurants and factory outlets have been mushrooming there to cater to the increasing demands of tourists, particularly those from Jakarta. Of course the concern of Bima and Ridwan, as leaders who have to fight for the interests of their people, is valid. There have been complaints, although sometimes unheard, about visitors from Jakarta packing the roads of their cities on weekends.

However, instead of banning cars from Jakarta, the regional leaders should find a solution that does not infringe on the rights of fellow citizens. Ridwan has proposed a traffic restriction policy that requires cars coming from outside Bandung to carry at least four people, reminiscent of the Jakarta'€™s three-in-one policy.

We, however, believe that there are common problems, particularly in Greater Jakarta, the solutions of which require mutual efforts by the authorities in Jakarta and its satellite cities. It is a fact that hundreds of thousands of residents of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi commute to Jakarta every day for employment. Their presence in the capital undeniably contributes to daily traffic problems facing Jakarta.

It is high time for all the local governments to seriously discuss solutions to the common problems faced by people within the Greater Jakarta Coordination Board (BKSP Jabodetabekjur), which has existed since 1976 but has not appeared to have functioned much.

Regular talks could prevent conflicts between neighboring governments across Greater Jakarta from taking place.

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