Rail-based transit is the way to go to tackle perennial traffic congestion.
s the use of private vehicles to commute in Greater Jakarta remains the top option, more rail-based transportation might be the answer to worsening traffic. However, the development must be pushed, an official has said.
Besides limiting the use of private vehicles through the odd-even license plate policy and electronic road pricing (ERP), railway transit is considered the future of urban transportation, Greater Jakarta Transportation Agency (BPTJ) head Bambang Prihartono said.
“Bus service is not a sustainable option; railway-based transportation is the answer,” he said in a recent discussion.
Bambang explained that the best way to get people to shift to public transportation was by designing public transportation service that moved around people and the location of their activities, which in other words was accessible to everyone.
He cited BPTJ data that said more than 88 million trips were made by 31 million people in Greater Jakarta every day, creating traffic congestion.
Bambang urged the government to take bold steps to realize the development of rail transit in Greater Jakarta as the backbone of mass transportation. He said the plan had been laid out in the 2019-2029 Greater Jakarta Transportation System Blueprint (RITJ). The blueprint is supported by a 2018 presidential decree stating that 60 percent of the area’s trips should be covered by mass transportation services by 2029.
Three operators manage rail-based services in Greater Jakarta, particularly in the capital city, namely city-owned MRT Jakarta, city-owned LRT Jakarta and a commuter line service operated by PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI), a subsidiary of state-owned PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).
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