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Traffic jam: Jakarta roads remain one of world's most congested
Traffic congestion in Greater Jakarta caused annual losses equivalent to some Rp 67.5 trillion (US$4.9 billion), 2017 data from the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) showed.
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Heavy traffic is seen at 5.30 pm on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, Jan. 30. (Jakarta Post/Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman)
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hiffari, 21, an engineer at an online accommodation company, has to take a 20-minute trip by motorbike from his home in Palmerah, West Jakarta, to his office in Gambir, Central Jakarta. Oftentimes, it takes him 15 to 20 minutes longer because of heavy traffic.
“The traffic is very irritating,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “My work sometimes requires me to move from one place to another.”
Ghiffari's longer travel time is an example of Jakarta's decades-long traffic issue, with the city failing to show any improvements in its congestion rate since 2018, according to a report.
The TomTom Traffic Index, an annual report published by Dutch location technology company TomTom, shows in its 2019 report that Jakarta’s traffic congestion rate stagnated at 53 percent between 2018 and 2019. The city's congestion rate had improved by 8 percentage points to 53 percent in 2018 from 61 percent in 2017.
The rate, calculated based on the daily travel times of all vehicles within a year, means that a trip in the city will take 53 percent longer than when the roads are clear. Cities with a traffic jam rate below 15 percent are considered to be the least congested.
"Globally, there’s a long road to travel until congestion levels are brought under control," Ralf-Peter Schäfer, TomTom vice president of traffic information, said in a statement released on Jan. 29.
He suggested that the rise of autonomous vehicles and car-sharing services would help alleviate congestion.
