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do and seven others are sitting on their motorcycles waiting for the next train to arrive at the Rawa Buntu Station. Edo plans to make a bit of money taking commuters from the train to their homes on the back of his motorbike. His clients live in Bumi Serpong Damai, one of the many burgeoning satellite towns around Jakarta.

Ojek, a motorcycle taxi, offers an alternative mode of transportation for short trips widely used by residents in satellite towns. It'€™s faster than walking and less expensive than a taxi.

'€œThis is the era of globalization. Nobody walks anymore,'€ 55-year old Edo said.

Living in satellite towns means more commuting and possibly more walking.

Many people who work in Jakarta choose to live outside the metropolitan area for many reasons (including cleaner air, a cleaner environment to raise their family and cheaper property), even if this means they have to spend more time commuting to and from the city.

But are they really walking more?

Marketing slogans for such satellite towns like Lippo Karawaci, Alam Sutera and Bintaro claim that their housing complexes take cleanliness and environmental issues into consideration. But whether that includes wide pedestrian walkways for people to walk is another question.

Bindu Philips, city planning advisor of Lippo Karawaci Tbk, which manages the Karawaci town near Tangerang, says the developer pays attention to pedestrians'€™ needs, including walkways.

'€œSidewalks must be clean and accessible and they must be able to connect people to hospitals and public transportation facilities,'€ Bindu told The Jakarta Post.

However, not all roads in Lippo Karawaci come with sidewalks. '€œThat would be too expensive,'€ she admits, adding that sidewalks are built in high traffic areas.

Alam Sutera, which claims to have won an award for '€œbest town for pedestrians and cyclists'€, says it has built an integrated transportation system that includes wide pedestrian walkways.

In spite of the claim, the pedestrian walkways were rather empty in one recent afternoon with most residents preferring to take alternatives, including driving to work, taking public transportation or getting on an ojek.

Yan, a 46-year-old salesman, said the sidewalks can be quite busy with joggers in the morning and the evening. But once night falls, few people walk on the sidewalks because there are no lights. '€œMost walk along the bike lane,'€ he said.

Andi Janto Singgih, an IT engineer who lives in Lippo Karawaci, said it was impractical to walk in the township when there are faster, safer and more convenient alternatives, including biking.

In Jakarta, where Andi works, he avoids walking more as a matter of prestige, preferring to take cabs, even for short rides. '€œIt would be embarrassing to be seen walking. Unlike in Singapore, nobody walks in Jakarta,'€ he said.

The sidewalks in these satellite towns are wider and well maintained compared to the ones in Jakarta. The wide walkways are lined with shady trees, are clean from kiosks and no motorcycles were seen riding on them. But they are not consistent and walkways are only built on main roads. Try visiting the housing areas, you will most likely find pedestrians sharing the road with motorists.

Stevanus Paramaditya, a resident of Bintaro, a satellite town south of Jakarta, said he spent up to 10 minutes each day walking from his home to the bus stop. The rest of the journey involved a bus ride to the rail station, the train to Jakarta, and another bus to Atmajaya University where he studies.

He could have done a little more walking as part of the journey, but he says he doesn'€™t for various reasons, including the heat, the lack of cleanliness and sometimes even the smell.

'€œI'€™d rather spend money than walk and sweat,'€ he said.

'€”JP