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akarta came one step closer to implementing the much-anticipated electronic road pricing (ERP) system after a regulation was signed by the President, but the city administration says there is still a long way to go before the system becomes a reality.

Transportation Minister spokesman Bambang S. Ervan confirmed on Friday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had signed Government Regulation (PP) No. 32/2011 on Traffic Management and Engineering on June 21.

He said the PP regulated steps to be taken by the regional administration to implement the ERP, which includes planning, managing traffic, procurement and preparing road facilities.

“The regulation lists a number of requirements for the ERP, including that the system can be implemented where the number of vehicles are higher than the road capacity,” Ervan said Friday.

However, Ervan said that the PP did not state that Jakarta was obliged to implement the ERP.

The PP also mandates that regional administrations handle traffic problems by limiting the number of private cars, cargo vehicles, motorcycles and parking spaces, he added.

The city has proposed that the ERP system discourage motorists from using private cars and instead opt for public transportation.

The initial plan for the scheme is for the ERP to be applied on roads in the current “three-in-one” car pooling zones.

Under the 3-in-1 system, enacted in 1994, private cars must have at least three people in them to enter main thoroughfares from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta during morning and afternoon rush hour on weekdays.

The ERP would replace the 3-in-l system, and with it the infamous passenger surrogates, known locally as jockeys.

Motorists can cheat the system by paying jockeys — who wait on the side of the roads leading to 3-in-1 zones to ride in their cars in the zone for a fee of Rp 25,000 (US$2.9) to Rp 30,000 per ride.

Separately on Friday, Transportation Agency chief Udar Pristono said that although the President had approved the technical frame for the ERP’s implementation, it was unlikely that the system would be implemented in the near future.

“We are still waiting for another PP currently being drafted by the Finance Ministry regarding a number of policies related to the ERP,” Pristono said.

He said one of the main obstacles holding back the implementation of the ERP scheme was that the road-pricing levy was not included as tax or retribution in the 2009 Regional Tax and Retribution Law.

“The new PP would solve this problem by categorizing the ERP fees as a tax or retribution,” he said.

Pristono said that even after the PP was approved, the city would still need at least one year to procure the equipment needed for the system.

The agency chief, however, said the city would hold a trial on a smaller-scale private vehicle limitation in Jakarta.

“Later this year, the city will co-host the Southeast Asian Games. We will need to engineer the traffic so the event can be successful,” he said.

Among the options under consideration are limiting the number of cars entering a number of roads based on license plate numbers, car color or special stickers.

Pristono said that imposing an even-odd license plate monitoring system would require technology to read car license plates.

Cars with license plates ending in a certain digit would not be allowed to travel on specific days.