City councilors have rejected the Jakarta administration’s proposal to have children start school as early as 6:30 a.m. to ease traffic congestion.

“I don’t think the idea to rearrange school and office hours can reduce traffic congestion.

“Why not improve and procure more TransJakarta buses and enforce stricter traffic regulations?” head of Commission B on the economy, Aliman A’at, said during the city administration’s latest meeting on traffic mitigation.

The city administration is set to issue a regulation bringing forward school hours by half an hour to 6:30 a.m. as of Jan. 1 next year to ease morning and afternoon traffic snarls.

The administration will also issue a nonmandatory instruction for private companies based in the capital to rearrange their operating hours according to their office locations.

Under the scheme, private offices’ working hours would be determined by zones.

Offices located in North and Central Jakarta would start at 7:30 a.m., those in West and East Jakarta at 8 a.m. and those in South Jakarta at 9 a.m.

The starting time for civil servants would remain at 7:30 a.m.

The administration has formulated a number of plans to deal with chaotic traffic jams, including curbing the number of cars on the road by applying a restriction on vehicle age. Also planned is a license plate-based rotating scheme where cars with even number license plates would alternate with those with odd numbers. None of the plans has been executed.

Igo Ilham, head of Commission E for social welfare affairs, said he did not agree with the motivation behind the administration’s plan to change school hours.

“I myself agree about making school hours earlier. It will train students to get up early and make them fresh and healthy. But don’t set a traffic regulation in the name of

education.”

Deputy Governor Prijanto said the administration would stick to the plan despite the criticism.

“How can people say it won’t be effective when we haven’t even run the program yet?” he said.

“I heard that some also said that the new regulation was against children’s rights. Well, just look at the positive side. Getting up early will make children fresher than before.”

According to a recent survey conducted by the city administration, some 20.7 million people take to the roads every day, with 57 percent traveling by motorized vehicles, 40 percent by bicycle or foot and 3 percent by train.

The survey also shows that about 32 percent of all of the travelers’ destinations are workplaces, 30 percent schools, 12 percent shopping malls and 26 percent other.

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