JAKARTA TO IMPLEMENT ODD-EVEN TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS STARTING JUNE by Fardah

     Jakarta, Feb 26, 2013 (Antara) - The Jakarta Administration has decided to implement the odd-even license plate system to reduce traffic congestion the capital city as of June 2013.

         Initially the new traffic restriction system would be applied starting March 2013 but it was postponed because the production of strikers needed to support the traffic system is still in the process, the Jakarta administration's transportation office head, Udar Pristono, said on Monday (Feb 25).

         The administration has yet to procure 3.5 million vehicle stickers worth Rp 12.5 billion (US$1.3 million) because of the late approval of the 2013 city budget, according to him.

         "This even-odd [license plate policy] requires stickers, and it needs funds and a period of time to procure those stickers," he added.

         The policy, which aims to limit cars on the roads based on license plate numbers, will temporarily replace the current "3-in-1" carpool zones.

         It will be effective from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays particularly on roads used by the Transjakarta Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and a number of other main streets such as on Jalan Letjen Suprapto, Jalan Rasuna Said, and Jalan Pramuka.

         "We hope the policy would be able to reduce traffic jams in Jakarta," he said.

         Under the plan, cars with odd-numbered license plates will be banned on even dates and vice versa.

         The transportation service of Jakarta is preparing two kinds of stickers to be put on cars with odd and even number plates - red for odd numbers and green for even numbers.

         At the initial stage the system would only be applied to cars but later it would also be applied on other kinds of vehicles, he said.

         Pristono explained the effort was taken ahead of the application of an electronic road pricing system in the city.

         Jakarta's Governor Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, expressed his optimism that the delay in the traffic system implementation would make the system more effective.

         The postponement would enable the authorities to prepare better supporting facilities and launch public awareness campaign on the system implementation, the governor said.

         Jokowi revealed his plan to use odd-even restriction system for the first time in December 2012. He initially hoped the policy could be realized starting January 2013.

         "We must first try the system. If don't try it, we won't know (whether it is applicable or not)," Jokowi said.

         The new governor had discussed his plan with the transportation ministry and the Jakarta police. He said that the city would work with the Jakarta Police and the Public Order Agency to supervise the plan's implementation. 
    The governor hoped the congestion would decrease by about 42 percent with the implementation of the scheme.

         He explained that under the long-term plan, the restriction of vehicles based on their registration plate numbers would be followed by the application of electronic road pricing, the operation of the mass rapid transit system and finally the monorail.

         Former Jakarta Police Chief Commissioner General (retired)  Noegroho Djajoesman considered the odd-even system idea of Jokowi as a radical way to solve the traffic problem in the metropolitan city having a population of around 10 million people.

         He suggested that in addition to the implementation of the system based on cars' license plate numbers, the Jakarta administration should give a priority to the construction of more roads and provide more public transportation means such as buses, MRT, or railways.

         A similar view was also voiced by NGO Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) which had called on the Jakarta police to oppose the odd-even license plate system.

         IPW Presidium Chairman Neta S. Pane in December 2012 said severe traffic congestion affecting the capital was a result of the absence of any government concept to restrict the number of vehicles.

         The need to develop an effective and affordable mass public transport system in Jakarta has also been neglected so far, he added.

         The people of Jakarta and its satellite cities are forced to use their private vehicles because the existing public transportation has so far been unreliable, uncomfortable and  as unsafe, he said.    
    Jakarta is notorious for its extremely bad traffic jams that has wasted a lot of fuel, time, money and energy of the people as well as the government.

         Some factors that have caused the congestion include lack of road capacity and lack of convenient public transportation means.

         According to the national police traffic data, the number of vehicles in Jakarta rose to 13,347,802 units in 2011. This figure consisted of 2.54 million passenger cars, 581 thousand cargo cars or trucks, 363 thousand buses and 9,861,451 motorcycles.

         From 2004 to 2010, number of vehicles in Jakarta grew at 12 percent annually, while road length only grew at 0.01 percent
    Last year, the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works warned that Jakarta would face extremely severe traffic congestion in 2014 due to the growing number of vehicles that exceeded the road capacity.

         "If there is no improvement in the traffic system, Jakarta is likely to face extremely severe traffic congestion in 2014," said the the ministry's economic and investment adviser, Setiabudi Albamar, in September 2012.

         Ideally Jakarta should have at least 12,000-km long roads, but currently the capital city has 7,208-km long roads, or only 60 percent of its actual needs, Setiabudi Albamar said.

    (F001/A/b003/B003)
(T.SYS/A/F. Assegaf/Bustanuddin) 26-02-2013 21:14:47