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Jakarta sees fewer traffic jams in 2018
With more than 50 million people commuting in the capital every day, it is no surprise that maddening traffic congestion can be found on all roads in Jakarta
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span>With more than 50 million people commuting in the capital every day, it is no surprise that maddening traffic congestion can be found on all roads in Jakarta.
However, a recent report published by the TomTom Traffic Index said Jakarta’s traffic had eased in 2018 compared to 2017, making it the city with the “biggest improvement”.
“Believe it or not, some cities’ traffic is decreasing over time! The TomTom Traffic Index is reporting that congestion levels are decreasing in Jakarta,” the index’s Twitter account posted on June 14.
The index ranked Jakarta the seventh most congested city in the world, improving on its fourth place in 2017. The average congestion level in Jakarta was 53 percent in 2018, compared to 61 percent the year before.
According to TomTom, motorists in Jakarta spent 19 minutes of additional time per 30-minute trip during peak hours in the morning and 26 minutes per 30-minute trip in the evening. The figures were better than those of last year of 22 and 30 minutes, respectively.
The TomTom Traffic index is calculated from anonymized GPS data collected via in-dash navigation systems and smartphones, the index says on its website.
Jakarta Transportation Agency acting head Sigit Widjatmoko told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that the improvement was the result of several measures taken by the administration in recent years.
“The opening of underpasses and overpasses, the closure of railway crossings [and] the odd-even traffic policy,” he cited as examples.
Greater Jakarta Transportation Agency head Bambang Prihartono said the agency had also found less congestion. Traffic eased 7 percent last year, especially when Jakarta hosted the 18th Asian Games in August and September.
“[The decline] was the result of the odd-even policy. This needs to be evaluated; it’s supposed to be applied all day,” Bambang told the Post.
During the quadrennial sporting event, the Jakarta Transportation Agency enforced the policy on several major thoroughfares from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week to alleviate congestion.
The policy had been applied along the major thoroughfares of Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman as well as extended to Jl. S. Parman, Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan and Jl. HR Rasuna Said.
The policy led to a 44 percent increase in average vehicle speeds from Aug. 18 to Oct. 2.
Yoga Adi Winarto from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy said besides the odd-even policy, there were also several construction projects that had been completed in 2018. As road users started using the new infrastructure, congestion was alleviated.
He mentioned as examples the underpasses in Mampang Prapatan and Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta as well as in Matraman in East Jakarta.
“It definitely eased the city’s traffic. We should also recognize the increasing number people using Transjakarta buses and commuter trains,” he said.
Transjakarta saw a 31 percent increase in passenger numbers in 2018, with around 800,000 passengers per day. In the same year, the city-owned company opened 31 new routes that connected with various places in Jakarta’s satellite cities.
Meanwhile, the commuter train — operated by PT Kereta Api Indonesia’s subsidiary PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia — served 1 million passengers per day in 2018. It has 900 train cars and 79 stations in Greater Jakarta and Banten and Cikarang in West Java.
Darmaningtyas of the Transportation Study Institute said the reduction in traffic congestion might also be the result of the use of park and ride facilities at commuter train stations in satellite cities like Depok and Bogor in West Java.
“The [park and ride] facilities gave people a reason to leave their motorcycles there and enter the city using the train,” he said.
To lure more people into using public transportation, Sigit said the city was accelerating the implementation of the Jak Lingko program, which focuses on improving public transportation services and allowing commuters to use various services under a single fare.
“We have instructed Transjakarta [as well as the MRT and LRT] to integrate with other means of public transportation under the Jak Lingko program,” he said.
Through Presidential Decree No. 55/2018 on the Greater Jakarta transportation master plan, the government targets to increase the use of public transportation.
Only 24 percent of commuters in 2016 used public transportation in 2016, but this is expected to rise to 40 percent for 2019. The figure is expected to rise further to 50 percent in 2024 and 60 percent in 2029.
