The project, expected to be completed by the end of March, is being developed at Tanah Abang Station, Sudirman Station, Senen Station and Juanda Station — four busy Commuter Line stations whose land is owned by KAI.

"We will redirect [online motorcycle taxis] inside the railway stations so that there is no traffic congestion outside," KAI executive vice president of Jakarta operational region Dadan Rudiansyah told The Jakarta Post by phone on Thursday. "We want to facilitate railway passengers in moving to other modes of transportation."

People living in Jakarta and its surrounding cities frequent the four stations as they commute on weekdays. In the fourth quarter last year, the number of railway passengers in Jakarta reached 5.13 million people, up 1.63 percent year-on-year, according to data released on Feb. 5 by Statistics Indonesia's Jakarta office.

The railway operator was planning to develop similar pick-up and drop-off spaces at all railway stations in Jakarta after the first four projects were completed, Dadan said. Such facilities for app-based ojek are part of a larger renovation project that will allocate space inside railway stations for, among other things, temporary parking lots for bajaj (three-wheeler rickshaws) and traditional motorcycle taxis.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Syafrin Liputo said the renovation project was the administration's measure to integrate different modes of transportation, which was expected to eventually encourage more people to use public transit instead of private vehicles.

"All parties involved, both formal and informal, are being rearranged by the administration," he said in a press statement on Wednesday. "[We] are giving options for locations and facilities so that they can carry on their economic activities [without unnecessary disruption]."

The biggest renovation project is currently taking place at Tanah Abang Station. App-based ojek often flock to Jl. Jatibaru near the gate to Tanah Abang Station to drop off and pick up passengers, causing traffic jams and obstructing access to the station.

The situation is allegedly exacerbated by competition between online ojek and traditional motorcycle taxi drivers, commonly known as opang, who reportedly take control of the parking lot inside the premises.

"The traditional motorcycle taxis enjoy a large parking lot, while the online motorcycle taxis do not have one," said Ronald Febri Rizki, a 29-year-old app-based motorcycle taxi driver, who has been providing his service around Tanah Abang Station for over three years.

"We are currently not allowed to pick up customers inside the station,” he said while waiting for customers outside the station on Thursday.

Jl. Jatibaru is also never empty of bajaj, angkot (public minivans) and Transjakarta buses scrambling to pick up passengers. Bajaj drivers wait for passengers on the road just outside the station, adding a bottleneck and congestion along Jl. Jatibaru.

Jakartans' dependency on app-based ojek to commute, despite it reducing the number of private vehicles, has exacerbated traffic problems at numerous other spots across the city, particularly near train stations or bus stops during busy hours.

The 2019 TomTom Traffic Index, an annual report published by Dutch location technology firm TomTom, found that Jakarta’s traffic congestion rate stagnated at 53 percent between 2018 and 2019. The rate, calculated based on the daily travel times of all vehicles within a year, meant that a trip in the city took 53 percent longer than when the roads are clear.

Mohamad Sudirman, a 24-year-old civil servant and a loyal commuter line passenger, welcomed the project to develop designated pick-up and drop-off spaces at railway stations.

"I think it is good as we can get out of the station and then go straight to the pick-up space to take an online motorcycle taxi, so we do not have to walk far," he said on Thursday while he was on his way to the station on Thursday.

KAI and the Jakarta administration are also partnering with city-owned MRT operator PT MRT Jakarta in developing passenger access connecting Sudirman commuter line station with Dukuh Atas MRT station. (dfr)

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