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BPTJ’s lack of authority leaves city gridlocked
When the Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ) was established in 2015, hopes were high that traffic congestion would be reduced through the revamping of the transportation system in the region, which spans three provinces
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span>When the Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ) was established in 2015, hopes were high that traffic congestion would be reduced through the revamping of the transportation system in the region, which spans three provinces.
Jakarta is home to more than 10 million registered residents, who own 13 million motorbikes and 4.4 million cars, according to BPTJ’s data. However, the number of vehicles traversing the city’s roads is far greater, as millions of vehicles enter from the capital’s peripheries on a daily basis. This has made it necessary to discourage commuters from Depok, Bekasi and Bogor in West Java and Tangerang and South Tangerang in Banten from using their private vehicles.
The BPTJ is charged with several duties, as outlined in the Greater Jakarta Transportation Master Plan (RITJ). However, the BPTJ’s lack of authority had made it sluggish in executing its tasks, agency head Bambang Prihartono said, citing the 2014 Regional Government Law, which stipulates that transportation management falls under the authority of regional administrations.
“Initially, the BPTJ was to be a ministerial-level body on par with the National Police, but it ended up falling under the auspices of the Transportation Ministry. Some plans cannot be smoothly executed because of its lack of authority,” Bambang said recently.
One example he cited was the issuance of a regulation on the odd-even license plate policy on several major thoroughfares, which took effect in April 2018 prior to the Asian Games. The issuance of the regulation should have taken one week, he said, but instead took more than seven months as it required the approval of the Transportation Ministry.
“Another example is the construction of Transjakarta’s corridor 13. It should have run along an elevated road until Tangerang but due to administrative reasons, [the road] from Jakarta descended to street level when it reached the border,” Bambang added.
Jakarta has set an ambitious target to increase public transportation ridership from 20 percent of commuters at present to 60 percent by 2029.
While many new modes of public transportation will soon make their debuts, such as the MRT and light rapid transit (LRT), the absence of an overarching integration plan may mean little is achieved to alleviate the city’s traffic woes.
Less than two percent of vehicles across Jakarta are able to travel faster than 40 kilometers per hour during the morning and afternoon rush hours, according to the RITJ.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has noted the slow progress, with Jakarta remaining among the most congested cities in the world.
The former Jakarta governor said that “we can’t continue like this”, citing a report from the National Development Planning Agency that found that Jakarta’s traffic jams caused Rp 65 trillion (US$4.6 billion) in losses annually. He convened a meeting with relevant stakeholders in January, hoping to craft a solution to the ceaseless gridlock.
A plan has since emerged to establish a body authorized to manage transportation across the entire Greater Jakarta area. While it remains unclear whether this body would be an entirely new entity or involve strengthening the BPTJ, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan claimed that Jakarta had been assigned by the President to lead these efforts.
However, Jakarta Transportation Council chairman Iskandar Abubakar said that while Jakarta had a significant budget at its disposal, the fact the city administration could not invest in or construct infrastructure in areas outside its borders would likely hamper the plan.
“This new body is necessary because it would have authority over multiple administrations,” he said.
Given the pressing need for this type of overarching body, whether it be an entirely new body or a strengthened BPTJ, Iskandar said he had urged the President to issue a regulation on its establishment as soon as possible.
“A presidential regulation is ideal, because we can’t afford to wait for a law to be passed by the House of Representative,” he said.
When contacted, presidential spokesman Johan Budi Sapto Prabowo said he was yet to receive any updates regarding the aforementioned body.
