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City launches first bicycle lane, many doubt it will work
Starting something: Cyclists peddle along Jakarta’s newly opened and fi rst offi cial bicycle lane on Jl
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span class="inline inline-right">Starting something: Cyclists peddle along Jakarta’s newly opened and fi rst offi cial bicycle lane on Jl. Melawai, just outside the Blok M shopping district in South Jakarta on Sunday. The Jakarta administration plans to allocate more lanes to encourage people to use bicycles. JP/Nurhayati
Jakarta inaugurated its first bike lane on Sunday, a move met with scepticism among cyclists in the city.
Governor Fauzi Bowo said the first bike line, which runs 1.4 kilometers from Blok M to Ayodya Park in South Jakarta, would be part of a massive network of bike paths in the city.
“Like the Transjakarta bus rapid transit, we build lanes especially for cyclists, who now number 6 million in Jakarta,” Fauzi said during the inauguration.
The city said it would next work on building another bike lane connecting Melawai and South Jakarta City Hall.
Cyclists, however, were quick to air skepticism over the effectiveness of the bike lane.
Toto Sugito, the founder of Bike to Work Community (B2W), said the bike lane was nothing more than eye candy for the city’s overall transportation system.
He said the new bike lane would be effective only if the government seriously enforced a pro-cyclist policy.
“We hope this bike lane will not be just another [failed initiative], but will be strictly enforced for
cyclists. We need stronger law enforcement, otherwise the lane will only be used as parking spots and a lane for motorcyclists,” Toto told The Jakarta Post.
His concerns were soon materialized only hours after the lane was opened when three-wheeled motorized pedicabs (bajaj) began occupying the lane as a parking spot.
Sarip, a bajaj driver, said he parked in the lane while waiting for worshippers outside St. John’s church who wanted a lift after Sunday services.
Sarip said he was aware that the lane was reserved for cyclists, “but no cyclists would use it in the afternoon heat, would they?” He was quoted as saying by news portal tempointeraktif.com.
B2W said the Ayodya-Blok M bike lane was not part of the integrated bike lane network it had proposed.
In 2009, B2W submitted a masterplan for a bike lane network to the Jakarta Transportation Agency.
Toto said the proposal was based on a comprehensive study of the costs and benefits of an integrated network of bike lanes.
According to the 2009 plan, South Jakarta would have a 10-kilometer bike lane running from Lebak Bulus to Senayan.
Toto said that by launching a shorter lane, the South Jakarta administration had cheated on the 10-kilometer requirement.
He said an integrated network of bike lanes could provide a solution to the city’s chronic traffic woes.
“With a well-managed mass transportation system that is fully integrated with bicycle lanes, motorists will eventually shift to using bicycles and mass transportation,” Toto said.
B2W said more people were beginning to use bicycles. Since its establishment in 2004, B2W’s membership has grown to 6,000 cyclists across Greater Jakarta, and 12,000 across the country.
