JAKARTA LAUNCHES NEW STRATEGY TO EASE TRAFFIC WOES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 9 (Antara) - The Jakarta government has banned its employees from using private and official vehicles, requesting them to switch to public transportation and encouraging the public to emulate them so that the traffic congestion can be eased.          Jakarta is one of the cities with the worst traffic jams in the world and has launched several programs to overcome its traffic woes.          The problem persists despite the Jakarta regional government launching a three-in-one policy in 1994, a car-free day measure in 2002, and a Busway system in 2004.          Recently, the programs include the construction of the monorail transportation system and a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).          However, the work on these programs is still on-going. The regional government expects that by the year 2030, Jakarta will be able to completely overcome its daily traffic jam problems.

CONSTRUCTION OF JAKARTA FIRST MRT KICKS OFF

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 12 (Antara) - With construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system finally underway on Thursday, Jakarta's traffic woes seem to have received a breather, of sorts.          When Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, was elected Jakarta governor in September 2012, he laid out three steps to solve the city's traffic congestion.          The first was to build on a traffic culture by improving the behavior of motorists; the second was the construction of adequate mass transportation systems and the third was the implementation of policies which support his programs, including the imposition of taxes for parking and purchasing cars.          The 16 kilometer MRT project, covering the stretch from Lebak Bulus in the south to the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta, is one of Jokowi's plans to improve traffic conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.     "For 24 years, residents of Jakarta have dreamt of having an MRT. During this period, some have perhaps lost hope as the project was never realized. Thank God, today, the groundbreaking could be done, and it is hoped the project would be finished in 2018," the governor said at the groundbreaking ceremony at Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta.          Apart from being developed as an MRT transit station, the Dukuh Atas station in Central Jakarta will also serve as a nodal point for different modes of transportation systems, including rail and water transport, said PT MRT Jakarta President Director Dono Boestami on Friday. PT MRT is carrying out the construction project.

NEW GOVERNOR CHALLENGED TO UNRAVEL JAKARTA TRAFFIC WOES

 By Andi Abdussalam
         Jakarta, Oct 31 (ANTARA) - Traffic congestion in the country's capital city is a chronic problem, besides annual floods, which is posing a grave challenge to new Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi).  "We have to build a culture of traffic discipline, improve transportation means and increase strength of police staff to support efforts to overcome traffic woes in Jakarta," Jokowi said at the Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday.
         With a population of about 12 million, Jakarta experiences massive traffic jams every day. Poor public transportation causes residents to use their private cars or motorcycles and according to the Jakarta Regional Police, there are about 3.1 million private cars and 8.2 million motorcycles in the city.   The state of public transport is inadequate and approximately 72.34 percent of the 22,000 buses operating in the city are already old and no longer fit for operations.
         Data at the Jakarta Transportation Service showed that in 2002 about 61 percent of Jakarta's commuters still used public transport but the figure dropped to 20 percent by 2010.