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View all search resultsTime is money: The Rp 100 trillion price tag on Jakarta’s congestion
Jakarta’s traffic paralysis, especially during bad weather, is more than just an inconvenience, it’s an economic drain as congestion slows business activity, worsens air quality and erodes productivity.
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No way out: Vehicles are stuck in traffic on Aug. 4 on Jl. TB Simatupang in Cilandak, South Jakarta. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
“Honestly, that was the worst experience I’ve ever had in nearly 40 years of driving,” said Dian Anggraeni, who works for the Jakarta administration, describing her drive home to Kemang, South Jakarta, amid heavy rain and flooding on Oct. 30.
“It took me around seven hours to get close to my house, a route that normally takes me just one hour. I could’ve made it all the way to Yogyakarta in the same amount of time,” she told The Jakarta Post with a wry laugh on Tuesday.
That day’s torrential downpour paralyzed much of Jakarta, striking right as millions of commuters were heading home. Gridlock on some of the city’s main arteries left workers stranded for hours.
“Everyone ended up turning off their engines. The cars were completely stuck, just parked there. It was really frustrating, especially when, halfway through, my gas tank was already down to two bars,” she recalled the physically and mentally draining experience.
“I was completely worn out, and on top of that, I still had to deal with the flooding at home. I was definitely unproductive the next day. After spending seven hours on the road, I decided right away I wouldn’t go to work [the next day],” she said.
Public transit users fared no better. Ulfa Chaira, who works in an office on Central Jakarta’s Jl. Gatot Subroto and usually relies on TransJakarta buses and ride-hailing cars, described a similarly grueling experience that also forced her to take a day off.
“Even taking the bus wasn’t smooth at all. There were very few buses running, and then we got stuck for two hours, completely stopped, like, we weren’t moving at all,” she told the Post on Wednesday.
