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Used car sales ‘rising’, expanded odd-even policy might not continue
Anies says if the policy leads to a rise in car sales, not public transportation passenger numbers, the policy is not effective.
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The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Indonesia has sent a recommendation to Anies to continue the odd-even policy despite the reports of a rise in used car sales. (JP/P.J.LEO)
T
he Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ) and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan have claimed that the sales of used cars in Jakarta have increased almost 20 percent since the odd-even license plate policy was implemented, leading to a reluctance by City Hall to extend the policy after the 2018 Asian Para Games end on Saturday.
This information would be taken into consideration when deciding whether to continue with the expanded odd-even policy, Sigit Wijatmoko, Jakarta Transportation Agency acting head said as quoted by tempo.co.
“We will also critically analyze the economic impact [of the policy],” he said after a discussion on the policy on Wednesday. He said the government wanted to make society switch to public transportation, rather than increasing car sales.
Governor Anies suggested he did not like that particular implication of the policy.
“I used data,” he said. Anies claimed that used car dealers told him about a sales increase of more than 15 percent since the expansion of the odd-even policy.
“My concern is how to make more Jakartans use public transportation. Therefore, we have to encourage [Jakartans] through [improvements] in public transportation, not through other methods,” he said at City Hall on Thursday.
He said motorists would adapt to the odd-even policy and create a new equilibrium in which people bought more cars or rerouted their daily commutes.
“Traffic modification is effective if the number of cars does not increase. If the modification leads to an increase in the number of private cars, then the modification is no longer effective,” he added.
Some commuters have applauded the expanded odd-even policy because it makes their trips on public transportation faster.
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Indonesia has sent a recommendation to Anies to continue the odd-even policy despite the reports of a rise in used car sales. "The used car sale rise is inevitable because it is people's economic right [to buy more cars]. But don't dismiss the fact that the Transjakarta [public bus] service is also improving," ITDP Indonesia's Country Director Yoga Adiwinarto said in a letter on Friday.
The ITDP noted that during the expanded odd-even policy, Transjakarta buses ran faster in several usually congested points. (gis/evi)
