TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Cyclists pin hopes on new bike lanes to provide better facilities
Jakarta’s cyclists, who have long complained about the lack of facilities to support their healthy and environmentally friendly way of commuting and unpleasant treatment from other road users, can rejoice as a new bicycle lane was launched over the weekend
Change Size
Jakarta’s cyclists, who have long complained about the lack of facilities to support their healthy and environmentally friendly way of commuting and unpleasant treatment from other road users, can rejoice as a new bicycle lane was launched over the weekend.
While the lane has not instantly made their life on pedals easier, they hope it will make cycling safer and more comfortable.
The lane, launched on Friday by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, spans 25 kilometers from East Jakarta to Central Jakarta in addition to the existing 32 km of bicycle lanes spread irregularly across the city.
The city plans to expand the lane to a total of 63 km by the end of this year.
“This year we will add 63 km of bike lanes on the capital city's roads. This extension will be done in three phases and the 25 km lane is the first. Through this effort, we hope more Jakartans will see cycling not only as a form of exercise but also as a means of transportation,” he told the press on Friday after trying out the new lane.
Anies said the lanes would make the roads safer for cyclists and encourage more people to commute by bike. “I’ve seen many parents forbidding their children to commute by bike to school because they were worried about their children’s safety. I hope such things won’t happen again after the launch of the bike lanes.”
The city, he said, aimed to add bike lanes to almost all roads in the capital city, especially on streets affected by the odd-even policy. The odd-even policy is a traffic scheme restricting access to selected roads to vehicles with odd-numbered license plates on odd-numbered dates and to those with even-numbered plates on even-numbered dates.
“Based on our calculations, bike lanes could be added to around 500 km of roads in the capital city,” Anies said.
After trying the new bike lane, Anies admitted not all of the new bike paths had barriers and painted markings. “We are planning to build barriers on the bike lanes to better protect the cyclists. However, some bike lanes will not have any barriers because the roads are simply not wide enough. Some lanes also have not been painted because we need to repair the road first.”
Commenting on the new lane, Untung, a 46-year-old cyclist from Pulogadung, East Jakarta, expressed his happiness over the extension of the bike lane saying it would help curb severe air pollution and traffic congestion in the city
“My cycling community bikes to Ancol, Monas and Kota Tua each week. I find it quite hard to cycle on roads without bike lanes even though I feel safer as I usually bike in a large group,” he told The Jakarta Post. “I’m glad the city administration added more bike lanes to Jakarta roads as it will make cycling safer and more comfortable for many people. It will help to curb air pollution too.”
Another cyclist, Acep from Rawamangun, East Jakarta, said he was relieved about the extension of the bike lanes because he always felt a bit worried whenever he cycled on roads without bike lanes. However, he expressed concern about rampant traffic violations on the lanes.
“I’ve seen many cars parked on the bike lanes and motorcyclists using the lanes too. Besides extending the lanes, the most important thing is for the city administration to ensure there are no violators,” Acep said.
He also said adding more bike lanes alone was not enough to encourage Jakartans to cycle on a daily basis. “The city administration should also provide public toilets along the bike lanes and establish a parking area so cyclists could easily use public transportation like buses and trains.”
Jakarta Bina Marga Road Agency head Hari Nugroho said the agency would take several measures to ensure no motorcyclists violated the bike lanes.
“We will build movable concrete barriers and bollards to prevent motorcyclists from using the bike lanes,” Hari said as reported by kompas.com.
Jakarta Transportation Agency head Syafrin Liputo said that after the trial period, which runs from Sept. 20 to Nov 19, any road users violating the bike lanes would be fined.
“After the trial period, any non-cyclist using the bike lanes will be fined Rp 500,000 [US$35] in accordance with Law No. 22/2009 [on traffic and land transportation],” he told kompas.com.
Anies said it would take some time to make the bike lanes free from other road users as he also saw many motorcyclists using the bike lanes when trying the new lanes on Friday morning.
“I saw a lot of motorcyclists using the bike lanes on the way to City Hall, but I think it’s normal. it’s only the first day of the bike lane trial and we’re still educating people about it,” he said. (nal)
