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Large truck restriction increases vehicle speed at toll road
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Vehicles on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road in Bekasi, West Java, on Aug.31. (JP/Risky Andrianto)
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ntroduced last month, the restriction on trucks with four or more axles from entering the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road from Bekasi in the morning hours, has increased average vehicle speed by 15 percent, according to the Greater Jakarta Transportation Agency.
The restriction, which is enforced between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., has increased the speed to 50 to 60 kilometers per hour, from 20 to 30 kilometers per hour previously, said the agency head Bambang Prihartono on Thursday.
“Even with such a short window of time, the speed has increased by 15 percent,” Bambang said, adding that with such a result, the agency would try to restrict trucks from using the toll road from Jakarta to Bekasi next week.
However, Bambang said, such a restriction is a short term solution to Jakarta’s congestion problem, especially toll roads that connect not only commuters but also logistics lanes between industrial zones in Greater Jakarta.
“We want to ensure that commuters going to their workplaces arrive on time. Further action to solve the existing problem with the trucks requires us to build a new system,” he said.
In a meeting with the Indonesian Truck Business Association (Aptrindo) and state railway operator KAI, the agency encouraged the business sector to switch from trucks to mass transport, such as trains, as an alternative mode of transportation.
So far, only 2 percent of logistics transportation uses trains, Bambang said, “train transportation should be cheaper than trucks.”
The agency has made a pilot project of a new logistic hub near Karawang station in West Java. (dis)
