I was first: Bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicles) occupy a designated bicycle lane in Blok M, South Jakarta, on Monday.(JP/Iqbal Yuwansyah)

The Jakarta administration has planned to expand bicycle lanes of up to 65 kilometers long as part of efforts to encourage more people to pedal their way around the city and to ease congestion as well as worsening air pollution amid criticism from cyclists over the poor facilities for them in the capital.

Jakarta Bina Marga Road Agency head Hari Nugroho said that, while the existing bicycle lanes did not connect to one another, the expansion would make a network by connecting the existing lanes with the new ones.

“One of the considerations for the expansion is that it can support areas affected by the odd-even policy, so motorists have more options to travel,” Hari told The Jakarta Post recently, adding that the lanes would be provided on both sides of the road.

The odd-even license plate traffic policy, which restricts the access of cars depending on whether the vehicle’s license plate ends in an odd number or an even number, has been recently expanded covering 25 streets.

In addition to the bicycle lane expansion, Hari said, the administration was also currently planning to integrate the concept with public transportation by providing bicycle parking zones at various locations including the MRT stations and Transjakarta stops.

In designing the expansion plan, the administration has been collaborating with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), an NGO for sustainable transportation.

ITDP senior communications and partnership manager Fani Rachmita said that based on an independent observation, the city currently had a total of 32 km of bicycle lanes spread irregularly across the city.

The lanes are located in some parts of Jl. Iskandarsyah Raya, Jl. Melawai and Jl. Gunawarman in South Jakarta, as well as Jl. Diponegoro, Jl. Tuanku Imam Bonjol, Jl. Taman Wijaya Kusuma, Jl. Gerbang Pemuda and Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in Central Jakarta.

They are also located on Jl. Jenderal Ahmad Yani, Jl. Jatinegara Timur and East Flood Canal in East Jakarta, Jl. Danau Sunter Selatan in North Jakarta, as well as Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta.

“The expansion then will take place in the areas between the existing ones so that they are all connected to each other,” Fani told the Post.

The planned expansion includes Jl. Sisingamangaraja, Jl. Panglima Polim and Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta, Jl. Proklamasi, Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Jl. Kebon Sirih and Jl. Cideng in Central Jakarta, Jl. Pemuda, Jl. Pramuka, Jl. Basuki Rahmat and Jl. Matraman Raya in East Jakarta, as well as Jl. Tomang in West Jakarta. For the first phase, the city plans to add 25 km of new lanes.

Fani added that before coming up with the concept, ITDP had conducted some surveys and public workshops to collect ideas from cyclists about what they needed the most on the roads.

The group held a community design workshop in April, in which bicycle users and pedestrians gathered to bring in ideas of friendly bicycling. ITDP presented the proposal of the ideas gathered from the meeting to the Jakarta Transportation Agency and Bina Marga Road Agency in July, she said.

“In addition to the expansion, we also proposed the implementation of a ‘bike-sharing’ concept at train stations, in which people who did not have bicycles could use those available at the stations’ bike parking zones,” she added.

Fani revealed there would be a trial for the lane expansion from Sept. 20 to Nov. 19 in some of the planned routes.

During the trial, she said, the city would also carry out evaluations to observe areas of improvement to make way for the integration with public transportation.

“We will regularly monitor the lanes during the period to see if they properly serve the community and hopefully, the new integrated concept can be fully enforced by the end of this year,” Fani said

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan previously said besides improving bicycle lanes, he also urged that all offices in the city provide bicycle parking areas and make special bathrooms for cyclists.

He hoped that through the development of adequate facilities, cycling would no longer be seen only as a sport, but also as a means of transportation.

The plan came amid criticism over poor existing bike lanes that are often taken up by motorized vehicles. Urban cyclists have also shared their struggles pedaling on the city streets, where often they get honked or intimidated by motorists or motorcyclists.

Rustono, 47, a bicycle taxi driver on Jl. Pinangsia Raya, across the Jakarta Kota Station in West Jakarta, said randomly parked public minivans on the road sides and vehicles going against the proper direction were very common in Jakarta, which made it difficult for cyclists.

“I can only say that proper bicycle lanes should have been provided long ago. It is not going to help much for little businesses like mine, but at least we can move more conveniently and safely,” he said adding that authorities must be firm in keeping the bike lanes free from motorized vehicles in support of city cyclists.

The chairman of Bike to Work (B2W) movement Poetoet Soedarjanto said he appreciated the plan to build more dedicated lanes for bike users, hoping that as facilities are improved, the community awareness would also grow.

“With more and more people being inspired to go by bicycle, not only can air pollution be reduced, the waste of time and money from congestion can also decrease. Then, the level of our quality of life increases,” Poetoet said. (syk)