Considering the many examples regionally of properly functioning traffic laws and transportation systems, it amazes me how inadequate Jakarta is.

The busway was developed to help alleviate the problems of public transportation, but the entire network is not used. The monorail? Has anyone actually seen the size of the supports? Does the government actually believe that those sticks shooting out of the ground will support the track(s), the train, and passengers?

And what is about the bus system? Why are public buses used as another form of taxi service? And why do the larger buses share the exact same route as the smaller angkot and kopaja? How come no one has ever been arrested for this wasteful use of taxpayer money?

What the government should be focusing on is:

Fixing the public system as it is. Force bus companies to openly tender for routes (there will be come overlap where routes connect) and salary the bus drivers (it would help if all the bus drivers could read). Bus companies should also be forced to work together in overlapping routes with respect to bus stops.

Organize where the buses should stop. Study and plan and work together with bus companies to make the routes efficient and make sure buses stop at designated bus stops, not wherever they please.

Force the small buses into neighborhood streets and only allow their routes to overlap with larger buses for dropping off people and returning to their designated neighborhood route. This means making their routes shorter and circular and buses more frequent.

Utilize the busway. Taxpayer money went into building it, so use it. If the intention was to use the busway as a pseudo-subway system then utilize all the routes (it's completely unbelievable that the busway is under repair more often than the roadways).

Make sure that there are connecting buses or community bus stops and force all buses to follow the rules. Letting the drivers to do what they please at the cost of public safety is ridiculous!

Get rid of the older buses and use the "newer" buses imported from Japan. Force bus companies that do not practice proper maintenance to pay penalties or risk having routes taken away and/or buses confiscated.

Make available the written traffic laws in booklet form for all citizens?

Announce changes; don't let people get caught unawares by the police. There are just way too many problems to list here. Basic point is this: With so many examples of very well managed systems why does Indonesia not follow a single one? Korea and Japan have excellent systems that incorporate community and main route buses alongside a mass transport system.

Singapore has a good (albeit rather slow) public transport system. All three countries use private bus companies under the city contract and they all work well together. So what's Jakarta's problem? Is the government weak? Overly corrupt?

Why not hire experts to study and implement programs? This has to be cheaper than wastefully spending money that doesn't belong to the government (maybe this is where the government gets confused - taxpayer money is owned by the people, not by the government). With so many solutions and examples available, why is the city government is so stupid?

John Stanley

Jakarta

Popular

Retail sales, consumer confidence ease as Idul Fitri boost dissipates

Number of forcibly displaced people dips to 118 million: UN

Hundreds of kitchens halt services due to 'pause' in free meals funds