Jakarta Globe - Jammed Jakarta

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    Jammed Jakarta4 Jakarta Globe Saturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009

    From Page 2

    too many vehicles, lousy drivers andencroachment onto roads by street

    vendors, minivans and buses.Mohammad Akbar, head of road

    traffic engineering at the JakartaTransportation Agency, said 92percent of motorists the kind ofpeople traffic cop Didin deals with allday violate traffic rules. Its theprinciple of supply and demand, hesaid. The supply of the roads and thedemand of the motorists is unequal.

    The city plans to implement anew strategic package that

    includes constructing a mass rapidtransit railway beginning in 2011 (seepage 14), building more toll roads andelevated highways, and attemptingto limit private vehicle ownershipthrough higher registration taxes forsecond cars and schemes such aselectronic road pricing (see page 12).No one knows when such plans will

    be implemented.Still, even with a shiny new

    subway, transportation experts say,people have to be convinced toleave their cars at home. A study bythe Indonesian Consumer

    Organization found that in 10 cities,the average Indonesian spends 12percent to 14 percent of his or herincome on public transportation,which is higher than theinternational average.

    One of the reasons this happensin Jakarta is because there is nounified network. Seventy-ninepercent of public transportationusers here change transportationmodes at least once to get to theirdestinations, and that costs money.

    Theres a systemic problem thatcauses people to spend more ontransport, Tulus said. A liter of gascosts Rp 4,500 (48 cents) but publictransportation could cost Rp 15,000to 20,000 a day. [A motorcycle] maynot be the most ideal means oftransportation, but its the fastestand most economical.

    Mobility is a source of economicopportunity, said Dillon, thetransportation expert, explainingwhy the poor will go deep into debt

    just to own a motorcycle. The samegoes for affluent car owners.

    Public transportation cant

    attract car drivers becausebuses and trains dont run ontime and are always delayed,said Purnomo Prawiro,president director of the BlueBird Group. Theres no

    benefit for them.As Jakarta tries to

    implement a medium-

    term vision for the future of publictransportation, some experts arewarning city officials not to forgetthat more cars and motorcyclesarent the only causes of traffic jams.

    One prime example is PasarCipulir near Ciliduk, South Jakarta,where it can take 45 minutes to drivetwo kilometers near the market.

    Thats because one lane of thesix-lane road is blocked by street

    vendors selling fruit, food andassorted trinkets. A second lane is

    blocked by public minivans andbuses. Police stationed at the ma rketdo nothing except shout into their

    walkie-talkies and watch the trafficback up. Road violations must bereduced first, said Akbar. But lawenforcement is very poor.

    Not so fast, says Adjutant Comr.Kanton Pinem, a senior officer atthe Jakarta Traffic Police. He saidthe municipal public orderdepartment is in charge of publicmarkets and if his men tried to forcethe vendors onto the sidewalks,they would face a riot.

    The solution is to have a properbus terminal there, said Kanton,adding that the police have tried to

    get the city to build proper facilities.After they do that, then we can talkabout giving tickets to buses thatillegally park there. Even if we had15,000 traffic policemen it would not

    be useful if the behavior on theroads is wrong.

    Mohammad Danisworo, chiefcity urban planning adviser to fiveJakarta governors, said part of the

    blame rests on the endless flow ofrural migrants into the capital each

    year (it was around 250,000 in 2008alone).

    Unfortunately, these peopledont pay attention to the rules, hesaid, joking that traffic in Jakartawould disappear overnight if all thecitys residents were replaced byrule-friendly Singaporeans.

    Despite the dire predictions andtough choices, its not all doom andgloom for our fair city, says HongjooHahm, lead infrastructure specialistat the World Bank.

    He said Indonesias era ofdecentralization is allowingregional and local administrationsto make their own decisions about

    public transportation projects,rather than being beholden tothe central government.

    I remain optimisticabout this. The busway is adecentralization dividend, hesaid. Transportation expertscan only hope that the subway

    proves to be a good second act.

    It was a simpler Jakarta, andone now lost in time. Newly-independent Indonesias capitalwas abuzz with optimism andnationalist ever in the late 1940s

    not to mention the sound o electrictrolleys rolling through the city centerand out to Menteng, which then was

    just a suburb.The citys streets, and its relatively

    efficient public transportationsystem, largely remained that wayuntil the early 1960s, when a ateuldecision orever altered Jakartashistory. President Sukarno,oreseeing rapid growth, had thetrolleys decommissioned andreplaced with buses.

    The trolley was insufficient totransport crowds because it only had[at most] three carriages, saidJakarta historian Andy Alexander. Iyou add more, it doesnt move.

    So the trolley lines were pavedover with asphalt and replaced bygiant gasoline-guzzling buses. Cityplanners dreamed up thorougharesto help push the city southward intothe wetlands beyond Menteng.

    But the envisioned road networknever really happened, whiledevelopment flourished virtuallyunchecked by regulations or zoning.

    They did have plans. They justnever implemented them,Alexander said. Jalan Sudirman-Jalan Thamrin was good planning,but thats it. Roads grew on their own,

    without any planning.Mohammad Danisworo,

    chairman o the Center or UrbanDesign Studies in Bandung, and anadviser to five Jakarta governors,says the city beore independencewas basically a network okampungs. Newer ones sprung up inthe 1950s and 60s, he said, and all othem eventually joined the sprawl.They built the houses, and the roadscame later, he said. And sometimesthose roads werent designed tohandle this development.

    As a result, the city is sorelylacking in major east-westcrossroads, but has anoverabundance o one-lane roadssnaking through neighborhoods andbehind high-rise buildings.

    Jakartas newer districts also werenever designed to enable people tolive, work, shop and take their kids toschool in the same area. As a result,more than 1.25 million people maketrips into or out o the city andback every workday. Modern urbanplanning dictates that you planeverything in your neighborhood,

    said Harya Setyaka S Dillon, atransportation expert. Thats theproblem: There was no vision or sel-sustained communities.

    There was also no vision orpedestrians. Conspiracy theorists sayoreign donors and internationalorganizations such as the World Bankwere eager to give loans and grants

    to build new roads and highways, all

    the better or imported Americanand Japanese cars. City officials gavescant consideration to sidewalks,crosswalks or other saety measuresor oot traffic.

    Cities are [supposed to be]developed or people, not or cars,said Milatia Kusuma Mumin,Indonesian country director o the

    Institute or Transportation andDevelopment Policy. The city oJakarta provides only or cars andmotorcycles. Now theres animbalance all the protection is orthe motorist.

    Well, most o the time. Jakarta isall but absent o public parking space,which leaves little option but to parkon streets and sidewalks, therebyincreasing traffic bottlenecks.

    There is only a small space onthe roads, and the cars take up morespace, which causes moreproblems, said Sutikman, 54, a blueshirt city parking attendant who hasworked on Jalan Sabang near

    Menteng or the past 30 years. But Idont want to say that parking causestraffic problems, because then mysuperior would think I havent beendoing my job.

    The way the citys streets havedeveloped, someone somewhereclearly didnt do theirs.Joe Cochrane

    A History oSprawling

    Growth andPoor Planning

    It all seemed so easy then: A map o the modestly-sized Jakarta in 1948 shows

    gridded streets and an abundance o rail lines. The Dutch also made use o t rolley

    buses, like this one in Harmoni in the 1940s. Photos courtesy o Andy Alexander

    They did

    have plans.They just neverimplementedthem

    Historian Andy Alexanderon the city planners in the firstdecades ater independence

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    5Jammed JakartaSaturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009 Jakarta Globe

    The Facebook entrysummed it up. StupidMetro Mini driver, pickingup passengers at a leveltrain crossing, wrote the

    incensed Jakartan.His anger was genuine: He was

    concerned about what would havehappened i a train suddenly roaredthrough the crossing in Kemayoranand slammed into the Metro Minibus, which was ull o passengers.

    But he was stunned to find thatmost o the comments posted by hisriends sided with the driver. This isJakarta, not Singapore or KualaLumpur, one said. Others said thiskind o maneuver was expected romMetro Mini drivers.

    LOL. Funny how my riends seethis reckless behavior as part o thepackage o living in Indonesia, hewrote. Those reckless drivers putpeoples lives at risk and thatsunacceptable.

    Anyone who has been on a MetroMini knows it is a thrill ride. But theprivately operated buses help fill thecracks in Jakartas woeul publictransportation system. As a result,motorists and commuters seemresigned to the act that Metro Minisare a law unto themselves.

    O course, people can and do gethurt. The buses oten never reallyully stop, which opens up the

    possibility o passengers tumbling tothe pavement trying to get on or of.Women wearing skirts or high heelsare at particular risk.

    Complaints abound in letters tonewspaper editors, on radio stationsand in phone calls to state- ownedbus company PT PerumPengangkutan Penumpang Djakarta.

    But all those complaintsdisappear with the wind, said oneangry emale commuter in SouthJakarta.

    Other complaints center aroundthe act that the buses dont alwayscomplete the routes they claim to

    serve. This is crazy. I take a minibusto go to Blok M because this busserves the Tanah Abang-Blok Mroute, complained Natasha, anAustralian expatriate in Jakarta, whowas dumped along with several otherpassengers about a kilometer romBlok M.

    Its written on the ront window.Now I have to take a long walk to BlokM, she said.

    The standard excuse rom driversis that heavy traffic justifies thedetour, but the real reason is thedesire to beat rival Metro Minis backalong the route to Tanah Abang.Moving slowly and saely meanslosing money to other buses, whichall compete against each other.

    How this behavior stoppingeverywhere, disrupting traffic flow,reckless driving adds to Jakartas

    jams is hard to quantiy. But datarom the Indonesian TransportationSociety showed public transportationcontributed to 65 percent of alltraffic accidents in Jakarta in 2008.

    The lack o discipline extends topassengers, who stand at

    intersections to flag down busesor minivans and then expectdrivers to stop exactly wherethey want, even i its unsae. As aresult, minivans, such as theinamous light blue Mikrolets,stop at crossroads, on bridges,in the middle o roads and evenon train tracks.

    Recently, at an intersection in Slipi,Central Jakarta, a group o peoplestood on the side o the road waitingor a bus, ignoring an official busshelter 20 meters away. Along cametwo giant city buses that illegallystopped right in the middle o an

    intersection, blocking all traffic.A stampede ensued as passengers

    tried to get in and out o the buses,while a conductor shouted KampungRambutan! Kampung Rambutan! toattract more passengers.

    This scene plays itsel out everyday, seemingly on every bus.

    There are at least 78,000 publicbuses, minibuses and minivans inJakarta, according to the cityadministrations communicationsoffice. Other transportation expertsand officials put the number closer to110,000. And most o the vehicles aremore than 20 years old.

    Hendah Sunugroho, an official atJakartas Land Transportation Agency,said private transportation companiesdidnt want to buy new vehicles orbudgetary reasons. One big bus, orexample, costs Rp 800 million[$84,000]. Minibuses are only slightlycheaper. So the companies preer to

    just repair their old vehicles, he said.Bambang Susantono, chairman

    o the Indonesian TransportationSociety, points to poor lawenorcement as the source oJakartas traffic problems, butMuhammad Akbar, head o roadtraffic engineering at the JakartaTransportation Agency, sees it

    otherwise.Akbar said the drivers unruliness

    and bad behavior by passengerswere caused by the lack o anefficient, integrated publictransportation system, and theabsence o a set wage or drivers obuses, taxis, bajajs and even ojeks.

    People would act more calmlyand sensibly i they were sure theywould get seats on comortablepublic transportation, he said. Anddrivers would not go crazy i theyknew they would get regular salariesevery month or every week.

    Meanwhile, the mad scramble orpassengers remains a pocketbookissue or drivers.

    Lack o capacity at Jakartas busterminals is another cause ocongestion. According to HulmaSitorus, head o East Jakartas districtcommunications office, theKampung Melayu terminal can onlyhold 100 vehicles, while the numbero buses and minivans that use it is

    oten three times higher. As a result,vehicles overflow onto the streets,causing continuous traffic jams.

    It becomes a verycomplicated situation, hesaid. Reducing the numbero public transportation

    vehicles is impossible, and sois expanding the terminals

    capacity because its surroundedby huge buildings and busy roads.

    Kafil Yamin

    Metro Mini Madness: Crazy Drivers and Commuter Hell

    The combination o reckless bus drivers and passengers who lack discipline has oten proven to be a dangerous mix. JG Photo/Safir Makki

    How hard isyour commute?

    Laksmi Puput, 25,accounting firm

    auditor

    Puputleavesherhouse

    inDepokat6:15a.m.andwalksabout100meterstoamainstreet

    Thereshe

    getsonaminivan

    thattakesher3kmto

    theDepokBarutrain

    station.Thiscan

    take10minutes

    TheresheboardsanexpresstraintoDukuhAtas

    stationatJl.Sudirman,whichtakes30

    minutesassumingnodelays

    Thereshe

    takesaminivan

    toherofficeon

    Jl.M.H.Thamrin,

    whichtakesaround

    10minutes

    4modeso transport50minutes on

    an average day

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    Jammed Jakarta6 Jakarta Globe Saturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009

    The commuter trainarrived at Juandastation near theState Palace at12:30 p.m. As the

    passengers let, they weremobbed by at least 200men chorusing, Ojek!Ojek!

    Aris, 30, was one o themen in the mob o motorcycle

    taxi drivers. He gestured andshouted: Ojek, Pak! Where are yougoing? Let me take you!

    I I am not aggressive enough, Iwill not get any customers, he saidas he waited or the next train, havingailed to snatch a are this time.

    This is the world o the ojek driver,a take-no-prisoners battle to land arider on the back o your bike, only tothen battle the dangers o Jakartascrowded streets and hurry back tothe station to find another are.

    Every time I find a space to slip

    through the traffic, its only the size oa human body, Aris said, describingthe narrow gaps ojek drivers findbetween cars, buses and trucks.

    Sometimes, thats what thepassengers want because they are ina hurry. We are the most practicalorm o transportation.

    Aris has been doing this or13 years. Riding a 2006 YamahaJupiter MX, he earns aboutRp 50,000 ($5) a day, enough tosupport his wie and two children.His average are is about Rp 8,000.

    His base o operations is Juanda

    station, where he competes with theother drivers and some 50 bajajthree-wheelers, as well asconventional taxis, Metro Mini busesand the TransJakarta busway. Hegets 10 to 15 riders a day on average.

    Aris knows that unruly ojeks addto the chaos on Jakartas roads there are something over ourmillion motorcycles in the city buthe has a amily to eed and his goal isto move as many people as he canthroughout the course o the day.

    Nearby is Sony, 32, a bajaj driver.Hes been operating out o the trainstation since 1996. It remains to beseen how much longer drivers likehim will be around, as the days o thecreaking, smoke-belching bajajcould be numbered.

    Unlike ojeks, bajaj drivers line upor passengers, who pay betweenRp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 a ride,depending on the distance.

    While some people choosemotorcycle taxis because theyreast, others say the bajajs beat theojeks on distance andprice. We usually take

    two passengers,sometimes three. Theyshare the are so itscheaper, Sony said.Or theyre alone buthave a lot o thingsto carry.

    A bajaj are can behigher than a taxi,

    Sony said. But taxis usuallydont do short-distance

    trips. I you go rom hereto the Istiqlal Mosque,

    which is just across theroad, or to Monas, which is

    just aew blocks rom here, a taxi

    wont take you.But despite this captive

    market, Sony said hes earning

    less money each year, with hisaverage take or a 15-hour day

    coming to aboutRp 40,000, or roughly hal o what itwas seven years ago.

    Driving a bajaj or ojek is a hardway to make a living, but tens othousands o drivers do it every day.

    They are not a part o theeconomy, so they have to survivesomehow, says MohammadDanisworo, chairman o the Centeror Urban Design Studies inBandung. Theres a conflict

    between the ormal and inormaltransportation sectors. Inormaltransport is mobile, cheap it getsyou anywhere.

    Competition among bajaj andojek drivers is worse than ever. Ojekdrivers have an inherent advantagebecause their vehicles are cheaperto buy and maintain. Bikes can alsobe bought on credit and almost allojek drivers own their motorcycles.

    Bajaj drivers, however, areunlikely to own their three-wheelers,because at about Rp 25 million or anew one, the cost is prohibitive.

    Sukarno, 66, knows this all toowell. Hes been driving a bajaj since1975 and still cant aford to buy one.Stationed in the Benhil area o CentralJakarta, Sukarno clears Rp 20,000 aday, ater paying Rp 55,000 in rent tohis boss, who owns the bajaj.

    And i he cant pay the entirerental ee, which he oten cant, whathe owes gets added to the next daysbill. I ater three consecutive dayswe do not pay the ull rent, the bosswill take the bajaj back and leave us

    jobless, he said.Competing with more than

    20 other drivers, most o them 20 to30 years younger than him, Sukarnosaid he only averages about onecustomer every two hours. But likeSony, he carries on because this isthe only job available.

    There are at least 15,000 bajajs onJakartas streets, according toNurachman, head o the Jakartaadministrations CommunicationsOffice. The city is now replacing the

    old orange, diesel-burningmachines with more

    eco-riendly models

    that run on naturalgas. But the projectisnt moving quickly

    because some bajajowners reuse to

    purchase the moreexpensive clean blue

    bajaj, which cost aboutRp 40 million.

    In parts o the city that are not asdensely populated, ojeks are moreefficient and manageable, and thedrivers are slightly better of.

    At a motorcycle stand near AtmaJaya University, there are 32 ojeksserving the area immediately aroundthe campus. Most o the passengersare students and office workers wholive nearby.

    Here we only take passengersrom this place to the houses theyrent, said Abdul Razak, leader o theAtma Jaya Ojek Association.

    It takes about 10 minutes onaverage and the are is Rp 5,000.

    He said members o theassociation all earn about the sameamount, because we manage

    ourselves properly to avoidcutthroat competition. Here, thedrivers try to help direct traffic toavoid becoming a source ocongestion.

    Bambang Susantono, chairmano the Indonesian TransportationSociety, said ojeks didnt pose aproblem i managed properly.Ojeks deserve to remain in

    Jakarta. The demand is there.They are needed.

    According to data rom theJakarta Police, there are 23,000ojeks operating rom 628 stations.

    Police provide regular training orthe drivers to raise awareness abouttraffic regulations and saety.Kafil Yamin

    Easy Riders: But the OjekAnd Bajaj Brigade Find It

    Hard to Make Ends Meet

    Driving an ojek is a tough way to make a living. JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno

    How hard isyour commute?

    Mulyo Santoso, 33,communications

    officer or anNGO

    MulyoleaveshomeinCikupa,Tangerang,at

    5.45a.m. andrides15minutesonhis

    motorbiketoapaidparkingspace

    Hethenwalks

    about500meters

    totheCitraRaya

    shuttlebus

    terminal

    HetakesabusdirectlytotheJl.Sudirmanarea,

    whichtakesbetween90and120minutes

    dependingontraffic

    Hethenwalks

    acrossandalong

    theroadtohisoffice

    attheRatuPlaza

    building

    3modeso transport125minutes on

    an average day

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    7Jammed JakartaSaturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009 Jakarta Globe

    Alda shakes herhead indisbelief afterhearing theannouncement

    blare from theloudspeaker atthe Pondok

    Ranji railway station in Bintaro,South Jakarta, one recent morning.

    Were sorry, but there appears tobe a problem with the express train.The 9:50 departure is canceled.

    Its 10:30 already, and Alda is nowwondering how she is going to get toher office on Jalan Sudirman,Central Jakarta, from the Bintarosuburb were she lives. Shes alreadylate for work. I wish they had toldus sooner instead of letting us waitfor an hour and then telling us thereis no train, she says in frustration.

    Moments later, the 23-year-old, apromotions executive at a recordcompany, hails a taxi and resignsherself to the traffic her driver willfight all the way to the city center.

    I have lost time and moneybecause of the cancellation, shesays, and this is not the first timetheyve done that.

    Even more frustrating is that shehas few other choices. To Alda,commuter trains, which cost

    between Rp 4,500 (48 cents) andRp 8,000 rupiah, are practically theonly way she can get into Jakartawithout busting her bank account.

    A one-way taxi ride to theSudirman area, she says, can set her

    back around Rp 50,000 on a quietday, and about Rp 70,000 when

    traffic is at its peak. She could takethe bus, which is much cheaper, butthat means enduring rock-hardseats, noisy vendors sellingeverything from sandals toBand-Aids, buskers and the reek ofher fellow passengers.

    But you know, time is money,she says, and I often have to take a

    taxi or buses when the train is late orcanceled.

    According to a study by theIndonesian Transportation Society, a

    vehicle car, taxi, bus traveling inJakarta on a single trip will spend 60percent of its time stopped because oftraffic. With statistics like that,commuter trains seem a promisingway to save time and money, as wellas help alleviate Greater Jakartasfamous traffic gridlock.

    So why isnt everybody,especially suburban dwellers inplaces like Bogor, Bekasi andSerpong, riding the train?

    Bambang Susantono, chairman ofthe Indonesian TransportationSociety, provides a sobering answer:commuter trains alone arent enoughto solve the citys growing trafficproblems because theres still amissing link with other modes oftransportation.

    The key is to integrate all the

    systems Bambang said, adding thattrain passengers should be able totransfer onto a TransJakarta buswithout first having to walk severalkilometers and then line up to buyanother ticket. The simplest thingto do is apply a one-ticket policy for

    both the busway and the train, hesaid, as well as having at least one

    transit station that connects thebusway and commuter trains.

    The Jakarta administrationhopes the city will have such anintegrated transportation system by2016 that connects TransJakarta

    busway shelters and commuter trainstations to those of the (hopefully)forthcoming Mass Rapid Transitsystem and inner-city monorail.

    That way, when suburban peopleget into the city, they can easilytransfer to other transportationmodes that [get them] closer to theiroffices, he said.

    One might forgive suburbancommuters for being skeptical,given the inefficiency, discomfortand lack of safety to which they arepresently subjected.

    Runi, a 24-year-old public affairsconsultant who lives in Ciputat, justsouth of Jakarta, has taken commutertrains several times into CentralJakartas Manggarai station. Not once

    has she had a comfortable trip.They should add more trains,she said, because at certain times,the train is too full, making ituncomfortable to ride in.

    If PT KAI CommuterJabodetabek (PT KCJ), whichoperates the commuter trains,doesnt lift its game, Runi said, not

    many people will leave their carsand motorcycles at home.

    They lack promotion, she saidof the operator. Most of my friendsperceive the train as dangerous andnot at all comfortable.

    They also lack infrastructure,according to Milatia Kusuma,country director of the Institute forTransportation and DevelopmentPolicy, a UN-supported organizationthat focuses on city transportationissues.

    Railway development has beenneglected by the centralgovernment. They choose to buildroads instead, she said, which onlyencourages people to buymotorcycles and cars despitecommuter trains being faster.

    Milatia also said the railwaynetwork has been shrinking fordecades. According to data from theMinistry of Transportationsdirectorate general of train services,

    only about 30 percent of Indonesias6,800 kilometers of railway tracksare currently in use.

    Only in the last year has thecentral government begun amakeover of the railway sector. In2008, the Ministry of Transportation

    Broken RailsThe Trains Are Hell, When They RunWhy is the ride

    so appalling,and why donttrains andother modeso transportinterconnect?

    Report Putri Prameshwari

    Commuters daily have to perch on the roo or hang out o the doors, but those are the easy options compared to the crush o being inside a carriage. JG Photo

    The simplestthing is apply aone-ticket policyor both theBusway and the

    train. That way,when suburbanpeople get intothe city, they caneasily transer.

    Bambang Susantono,chairman o the IndonesianTransportation Society

    Continued on Page 8

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    Jammed Jakarta8 Jakarta Globe Saturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009

    allocated Rp 19.5 trillion for a train

    revival program, which is scheduledto be finished next year. Theprogram includes clearing land andillegal squatter settlements alongrailway tracks, as well as reopeninginactive lines and stations.

    In September, TransportationMinister Jusman Syafii Djamal cutthe ribbon at the new Jurang Mangustation in Bintaro, which serves thetrack linking Serpong, Banten, withTanah Abang i n the city center.

    Such tangible results may yetgive hope to people like Laksmi

    Puput, a 25-year-old auditor at apublic accountants office in theJalan Thamrin area, who oftenworks late into the evening beforereturning home to Depok.

    The train schedule sometimesdoesnt fit with mine, she said, soits often useless [to use it] since Ihave to take a bus any way.

    Its also more of a hassle to gethome at night. An air-conditioned

    bus service drops her off only a few

    hundred meters from her house, butfrom the closest train station she hasto get on a minivan to get home.

    That costs me an extra Rp2,000, Puput said. A train ride hometo Depok sets her back up to Rp11,000 depending on the hour, whilea one-way air-conditioned bus tripcosts around half that much.

    Then of course theres GreaterJakartas teeming masses, who canneither afford an air-conditioned bus,let alone the Express Train andhave been known to throw rocks at

    them as they rush by their stations.For between Rp 1,000 and Rp 2,000per trip, passengers must be preparedto become human suitcases.

    They are crammed into carsamong hundreds of otherpassengers, along with boxes, bagsand, occasionally, stacks of

    vegetables and live poultry.

    Alda, the record companyexecutive, is occasionally forcedto take an economy-class train

    if there isnt an ExpressTrain. It is the worst, shesaid. You have to struggle

    just to get inside the trai n.With Jakartas ranks

    swelling each workday from8.5 million to as many as 12million, PT KCJ obviously has itswork cut out for it. The companywas only established in the past year

    by state-owned railway operator PTKereta Api, with the sole mission ofcarrying more people living outsideJakarta in and out of the city each day.

    The current service links Serpong,Tangerang, Bogor, Depok and Bekasito five train stations in Jakarta:Palmerah, Karet, Tanah Abang,Sudirman and Manggarai. The 150kilometers of track also include acircular line within the city, stoppingat Jatinegara, Manggarai, Tanah

    Abang, Sudirman, Pasar Senen and

    Kampung Ambon stations.Makmur Syaheran, the

    companys corporate secretary, saidPT KCJ was gradually adding moreExpress Trains while at the sametime adding more air-conditionedcars onto economy-class trains.

    We are committed to allocateRp 1.2 tril lion by 2013 to improve ourfacilities, Makmur said.

    Despite the horror stories, morepeople are using commuter trainsthan ever before li kely out ofnecessity because despite all of itsproblems, it still beats sitting in theincreasingly bad traffic. A trip to

    From Page 7

    Ididnt buy a ticket or the

    economy-class Jakarta-Bogorcommuter train because I wantedto; it was just the next train thatwas leaving the station.I didnt want to wait a hal-hour or

    an air-conditioned train, which turnedout to be a nearly-atal mistake

    It was only 2 p.m. at the Tebetstation, but it was packed, with manypeople crowding at the edge o theplatorm or ear o losing a chance topush onto the train when it arrived.

    Looking at the waiting crowd, Ihoped the train was empty, or wewould all be let on the platorm. It

    wasnt. It creaked in overloaded, butthat didnt stop waiting passengersrom shoving through every door.

    I was about to get in, but seeing nospace inside, I stepped out, thinkingthere would be another train shortly.But other people still managed to prythemselves into the cars. I you dontget in youll be here until the last train,said a man who saw me get out. Hewas right. So I told mysel: No matterwhat, youre getting on the next train.

    And here came that next train, justas packed. But I ought my way on. I

    made it! But was this a success or astep toward disaster, I wondered as Ibegan to have trouble breathing.

    I looked around and saw a sea opeople packed against each other. Tomy right was a pregnant woman whokept sighing just to get enough air. Tomy right was an old man holding arattan stick in his let hand while hisright clung desperately to a handrail.

    A man was sitting on my eet,bowing his head as i he didnt wantto see anything. It was hard to blamehim. People were complaining,crying out, but no one could do

    anything. The train hadnt even letthe station, as more people crammedin. Each time someone got in, wewere pushed back and orth, let andright. All we could do was hold on.

    As I struggled or breath I prayedor the train to leave, assuming somepeople would get of at the next ewstations. Wrong again. For every onewho got of, even more got on.

    In desperation, my mind raced,

    thinking about those in power ministers, governors, legislators who should be orced to go throughthis. They should know the agony otheir people. I imagined them ridingin their expensive cars.

    Each stop ailed to bring relierom the crush. The pregnant womankept sighing. God, I thought, itstime or you to interere in this stupidhuman business. Please help her.

    I didnt know how much longer Icould endure this. My arms and legsached rom trying to stay upright inthe crush o humanity. People

    became more compacted, so that

    nobody could move. The metal

    handrail could no longer stand theweight o so many people and itbroke. All o us were shaken.

    I was thrown orward into thewoman in ront o me and she ellagainst the wall. Now, the onlydeense was the cargo shel. I waswondering how long it would hold upagainst the crush. Finally, we arrived atBogor station the final destination.The train was still rolling when thepassengers began to rush out thedoors, creating another stampede.

    The train stopped. As thepassengers pressed through the

    door, people outside rushed to get in.

    Let us get of first! some o the

    passengers shouted. I was carriedtoward the door by the crush. MyBlackBerry dislodged rom my belt,alling onto the track under the train.

    Get it beore the train leaves,advised a man who saw it all.Otherwise somebody will take it.

    So I jumped down onto the track,ducked and crawled under the trainto get the BlackBerry, hoping thetrain wouldnt suddenly start rolling.I it did, I was finished. I grabbed it andclambered back onto the platorm,praying I would never again have toendure this in my hopeully long lie.

    Kafil Yamin

    Riding the Train: A Torturous Journey o Desperation

    Riding a commuter train can be a harrowing experience as passengers orce their way into packed cars. JG Photo

    How hard isyour commute?

    Hanum Tyagita, 25,doctoral research

    assistant

    Hanumleaveshome

    inBintaro,SouthJakarta,at9a.m.andcatchesaminivan50metersawaytoLebakBulus. Ittakes

    30minutes

    Fromthere

    shetakesthe

    BuswaytoGrogol,

    West Jakarta,

    whichtakes

    between45and

    60minutes

    Thenshetakesa5-minutetaxiride1kmtotheWestJakartaDistrictCourtinSlipi,whereshespendsmucho

    herworktime.

    3modeso transport

    90minutes onan average day

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    Bogor by car can take up to twohours, Makmur said, but acommuter train will have you there

    in 30 minutes.He said that approximately

    400,000 people now use the traindaily, an increase from 325,000 in2008. He said PT KCJ was targetingone million passengers a day by 2013.However, greater capacity wontnecessarily attract more passengersif safety measures arent improved.

    Riders Runi, Puput and Alda allsaid they were haunted by the fear ofan accident every time they boardedan PT KCJ train.

    In August, two commuter trains

    on the same track between Jakartaand Bogor crashed in BogorsTanah Sereal subdistrict, killingone engineer who was on board. Atleast 38 passengers were injured inthe accident.

    Last June, a Jakarta-boundeconomy-class train from Depokcollided with a Depok Express

    Train near Manggarai station inSouth Jakarta, injuring threepeople. The accident paralyzed the

    entire commuter train system forthe rest of the day becauseManggarai, one of the biggest hubs,was shut down.

    Just days after the accident,Tundjung Inderawan, directorgeneral of railway transportation atthe Ministry of Transportation, paida surprise visit to a trainmaintenance center in Depok and,not surprisingly, found many trainswerent regularly maintained.

    For passengers, it is like pullinga cat from a sack whenever they get

    on one of those trains, Tundjungsaid at the time, using the colorfulIndonesian phrase to describehaving to face the luck of the draw.

    But the ministry has taken nofurther action since that inspection.

    Bambang, from the IndonesianTransportation Society, saidrevamping the commuter train

    system must not stop at adding moretrains and stations writing newregulations.

    There has to be a socialengineering, Bambang said, sopeople will learn about ethics onpublic transportation. Those ethics,he said, include how to queue infront of ticket booths and stopping

    buses and taxis at the proper places.If the system is properly integrated,its almost certain that people willturn to public transportation,Bambang said.

    Riding on a commuter trainbound for Depok, Puput, the auditor,jumps after hearing a loud bang right

    behind her head. It was most likely arock being thrown at the train bypeople along the railway track.

    I hope people will finallyunderstand that publictransportation is there to make ourlives easier, she said, shaking herhead, so they will not make anyattempts to damage it.

    Jakartas commuter train

    service can be unreliable,unconormable and otendangerous, but around400,000 people use it daily.

    Ajeng, a 25-year-old accountexecutive at one o Indonesiaslargest banks, isnt one o them.

    Her office in Palmerah, WestJakarta, is only a ew hundred metersrom a train station, and she lives inBintaro, South Jakarta, just fiveminutes away rom a station.

    Still, Ajeng has never taken thetrain to work and likely never will. Shepreers to go in her chaufeur-driven

    car even though she spends at least

    an hour each way in bumper-to-

    bumper traffic.Every day, Ajeng said, she meetsvarious bank clients, including seniorexecutives, and must dressappropriately. My position at workorces me to take a car and not thetrain, she said. There is no way I cantake motorcycle taxis wearing myormal business suit,

    Fair enough, but DjokoSetijowarno, head o the railwaytransportation orum at theIndonesian Transportation Society,said theres more at work here thansweaty and wrinkled clothes.

    Theres still a notion that people

    riding in private cars have more

    prestige than those who take publictransport, he said.Adra, a senior official at a

    government ministry, which hedeclined to name, admits hesreluctant to take the train rom hishouse to the office, preerring to ridein the back o his SUV.

    Im lucky I have a driver who isready practically 24/7, the 46-year-old husband and ather o three said.So why should I bother taking publictransport under the scorching sun?

    In exchange or comort andsocial status, Adra spends at least 90

    minutes each way between his house

    in Tanah Kusir, South Jakarta, and his

    office in Central Jakarta. However, hesaid, thanks to his comortable carand portable work tools, he doesntmind the traffic jams.

    I admit I am a contributor toJakartas traffic problem, Adra said,but until theres a decent mode otransportation, I have no option. Herightly points out that even i he diddrive himsel to the train stationclosest to his house and commuted,theres nowhere to park his car.

    Status symbols or not, its hard toblame people who preer to taketheir private vehicles to work, given

    the lack o an integrated publictransportation system. Even theexpress trains, which are air-conditioned, dont stop at everystation in the city, meaningpassengers still need yet another rideto get near their offices.

    Ater they get out o the station,most likely they dont want to becrammed into a minibus, Djoko said.

    Djoko said he believed that i amore integrated transportationsystem were in place, people wouldslowly turn rom their private vehicles.

    He said he hoped the emergenceo an integrated network would sparka cultural shit where Indonesians oall social classes would be amenableto public transportation. For starters,the train operator must increasepassenger capacity to enable peopleto sit comortably, he said, adding thatthe current commuter service is onlyaimed at middle-class people.

    That may change more quicklythan people think. A centralgovernment regulation passed inSeptember partially privatizescommuter and intercity train

    services across the country.Tundjung Inderawan, director

    general o railway transportation atthe Ministry o Transportation, saidprivate companies and regionalgovernments could soon jump intothe train business. Thus there will becompetition aiming to give the bestservice to the customers, he said. Putri Prameshwari

    Taking the Car: It Chokes Me, but Its a Status Symbol, Right?

    The comort o the private car, chaufeur-driven or not, has long kept commuters of the cramped trains. AP Photo

    How hard isyour commute?

    Stevy Widia, 34,newspaperjournalist

    Stevywalksor200metersrom

    herhouseinDepokat8a.m. tothemainstreet

    Thereshe

    catchesapublic

    minivantoPasar

    Minggu,South

    Jakarta.Theride

    takesabout

    60minutes

    Theresheboards

    anotherminivanoranother60-minuteride toherofficeatJalanDewiSartikainCawang,East

    Jakarta.

    3modeso transport

    125minutes onan average day

    For passengers,it is like pullinga cat rom a sackwhenever they

    get on one othose trainsTundjung Inderawan,director general o railwaytransportation at theMinistry o Transportation

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    11Jammed JakartaSaturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009 Jakarta Globe

    97.3kmtotal length o

    TransJakartaBuswayss eightcorridors. It is theworlds longest busrapid transit system.

    219,000people on average

    using the Buswaydaily in 2008.From January toApril 2009 therewere 208,000.

    14 millionliters o gas

    saved in 2008as a result othe Buswaymeaning ewercar journeys.

    33,964tons o carbon dioxide

    spared rom beingemitted each year, plus405,430 tons o nitrogenoxides and 759,850 tonso hydrocarbons.

    Scenes rom Jakartas busway. The controversial system is eith er seen as a blessing or a cur se by Jakartans. Either way, with more routes set to open in the utu re it looks like its here to stay. JG Photos

    Source:TransJakarta

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    Jammed Jakarta12 Jakarta Globe Saturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009

    15.4 percent shifted frommotorcycles, the company said.

    One of the people who made theswitch is David Tjahjana, a53-year-old IT consultant, whoreduced his traveling time by

    becoming a busway regular. He isalso one of the founders ofsuaratransjakarta.org, a Web sitethat allows busway users toexchange information aboutthe system.

    The busway is a boon for

    me because I have manyclients located inSudirman. I can just parkmy car at my office[there] and then meetthem. Its fast, and freeof the 3-in-1 trafficrestrictions, he said.

    I think the busway is abreakthrough, however, it needs tobe integrated with other modes oftransportation, Tjahjana said.

    Another breakthrough, expertssay, would be introducing a newsocial culture in relation totransportation for millions ofJakartans. This would includestanding in line for tickets andgetting on and of f only at bus stops.The busway, which is moreorganized and disciplined, helps.We are learning to be civilized,Tjahjana said.

    The Future: Electronic Road PricingAnother of former GovernorSutiyosos schemes was the 3-in-1policy in 2003, which mandates that

    vehicles using a number of strategicroads during peak morning andafternoon hours must have at leastthree passengers.

    If we hadnt applied the 3-in-1policy, we would have total gridlock

    by now, said Amalia Aldian, head ofthe land and railways division at theCoordinating Ministry for the

    Economy, in defense of thecontroversial regulation.

    But as any motoristknows, private cars without

    thee occupants can still usethese routes by pickingup one or two car jockeysat the side of the road,

    meaning there is zeroincentive to take public

    transportation. Cars that usealternative routes, rather than payRp 10,000 for a jockey, arethemselves a nuisance because theyclog side streets in quietneighborhoods.

    We admit that the 3-in-1 policy isnot effective in reducing Jakartastraff ic, Akbar said. That is why weshould replace it with electronicroad pricing.

    Sutiyoso considered electronicroad pricing (ERP), which is used inSingapore and in central London,among other cities, back in 2007. The

    system automatically withdrawsmoney from a pre-paid cardconnected to an electronic sensor on

    vehicles using certain roads at peakhours.

    The JICA study recommendedthat Jakarta apply electronic pricingin 2005 to complement the 3-in-1policy, saying fees could reach Rp 15trillion by 2020. However, lack ofplanning and a disagreement aboutwhether the Jakarta government orthe Ministry of Finance wouldcollect fees have helped haltimplementation. There is still no

    concrete plan.The city administration is

    working on a draft law for collectingfunds, but some transportationofficials and experts say the ERPshouldnt be implemented until amass rapid transit system is built.

    I believe the ERP is moreeffective. Private cars will start tocalculate their expenses when thissystem is applied, Akbar said.

    In the meantime, the 3-in-1 policywill continue, with motorists puttingmoney into the pockets of car

    jockeys rather than into state coffers.

    Going or a Sunday Walk

    Beginning in 2007, the Jakartaadministration introduced a car-freeday on the last Sunday of everymonth along Jalan Sudirman andJalan Thamrin, and on the middleSunday in a rotating area of the city.

    The programs goal isto improve air quality and toencourage people to either walkor ride bicycles.

    Some experts reckon the policyhas actually had more of a socialimpact: It fulfills a longstandingneed for open space if just for twoSundays a month.

    Many people use the time to strollalong the roads, ride bicycles,skateboard and even play footballand other games without inhaling

    vehicle exhaust fumes.It feels good to have the street

    just for us, so spacious! Thoughsometimes ignorant cars illegallypass by, ruining our car-free day,said Febry Andy, a security officerwho lives in Salemba, CentralJakarta. I park my motorcycle atMonas [National Monument] andthen just walk with my niece,enjoying the empty street.

    According to 2008 data fromthe Jakarta EnvironmentalManagement Board (BPLHD), theaverage number of airborne dustparticles on car-free days drops by34 percent, carbon monoxide levels

    by 68 percent and nitrogen oxidelevels by 80 percent.

    We want to improve the qualityof Jakartas air, and what has beendone shows the quality of the citysair recovers significantly, said RinaSuryani, head of pollution control atthe BPLHD.

    I we hadntapplied the3-in-1 policy,we would havetotal gridlockby now

    Amalia Aldian, head o theland and railways division

    at the Coordinating Ministryor the Economy

    We admit thatthe 3-in-1 policyis not eectivein reducingJakartas traic

    Muhammad Akbar, head oroad traffic engineering atthe Jakarta administrationsTransportation Agency

    From Page 10

    Making the most o a car-ree day or a game o utsal on the normally choked Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta. Such days not only ofer places or recreation but also reduce pollution in the city. JG Photo

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    Jammed Jakarta14 Jakarta Globe Saturday/Sunday, October 24/25, 2009

    It has been delayed too many

    times to count. And donteven mention the monorail ...

    Report Hera Diani

    B

    angkok has one.So does NewDelhi. EvenManila has a lightrail system andMexico City is

    building one, too.So why doesnt

    Jakarta, a Group of 20 nation andemerging global player, have a massrapid transit (MRT) system?

    With a population of 12 millionresidents and day workers, as well asabominable traffic problems, thecity still is hobbling along with whatexperts call traditional forms ofpublic transportation: buses,commuter trains, public minivans,swarms of motorcycle taxis andother small vehicles.

    Preparations are under way for

    the construction of an MRT systemthat will run both above and belowground. Public financing appears to

    be in place and if all goes well,Jakarta could join other big cities infinally developing a coherentapproach to transportation.

    It cant happen soon enough,with the city in dire need of change.Experts estimate that traffic inGreater Jakarta causes economiclosses of about $1 billion per yea r,nearly the price to build a new MRTsystem. They also say that totalgridlock is possible by 2014 if

    nothing is done.

    Past Stumbles

    An attempt was made in 2004 tobuild a privately owned andoperated monorail it was limitedin scope, but at least it wassomething. But when the financingfailed to materialize it ground to ahalt and the venture is now mired ina conflict between the city and theprivate company behind theproposal. The dormant pillars left

    behind in Central Jakarta arelasting monuments to its failure.

    Sutanto Soehodo, a Jakartadeputy governor on transportationissues, said the idea of building anMRT system has been underdiscussion for the past 25 years. Inthe early 1990s, he said, the Jakartaadministration and stakeholderssuch as the Agency for the

    Assessment and Application ofTechnology and the Ministry ofTransportation included an MRTsystem as a future planningpriority. But once centralgovernment officials were toldabout the estimated cost,enthusiasm faded quickly.

    It was considered too expensiveand the return would have been toosmall, because it was a public serviceobligation, Sutanto said.

    The central government tried tofind foreign loans at the time,Sutanto said, but donors consideredthe cost for a subway system orskytrain to be too high.

    Even worse, transportationexperts suspected that somethingsinister was behind the countrysinability to secure loans. This

    country is a huge market forautomotive producers, like Japan.So, Im guessing they have beenreluctant to give us loans to build anMRT system because they dontwant to lose the market, Sutantosaid.

    Milatia Kusuma Mumin, countrydirector of the Institute forTransportation and DevelopmentPolicy, said the country has long

    been a dumping ground for

    vehicle producers. The Dutchcolonial [administration] did good

    by establishing a rail-basedtransportation system in Jakartaand other major cities, Milatia said.But then as the Indonesiangovernment looked forinfrastructure grants in the 1970s,the system was turned into aroad-based one, as requested by richcountries who gave the loans.

    A number of railroads werepaved over, she said, and therehasnt been much development ormany improvements to railinfrastructure for decades.

    Demand for more effective andefficient public transportation hasincreased over the past several

    years, however, prompting both thecentral and Jakarta governments tostart thinking more seriously aboutwhat to do.

    However, there have only beenpiecemeal projects and studies. Onlyfive years ago, a master plan wasmade, said Bambang Susantono,deputy minister for infrastructureand regional development at theOffice of the Coordinating Ministerfor the Economy.

    Its not just a financial problem it also has to do with t he absenceof political will. The economiclosses [from traffic] are intangible,so the transportation issue doesnot become a priority, saidBambang, who is also the chairmanof the Indonesian TransportationSociety.

    Better Late Than Never?

    With respect to the analogy about

    closing the barn door after thehorses escape, the current Jakartaadministration finally seemsdetermined to begin construction ofan MRT system, going both aboveand below ground, in 2011, withplans to have it operational by 2016.

    M Akbar, head of road trafficengineering at the JakartaTransportation Agency, said theMRT system would be based on theMacro Transportation Pattern plan,which was first created in 1994.

    It is a set of strategic guidelinesto improve public transportation,restrict private vehicles and buildroads, Akbar said.

    The Japan InternationalCooperation Agency, which releaseda baseline study on an IntegratedTransportation Master Plan(SITRAMP) in 2004, has alsoprovided loans for the MRT project.

    Negotiations, however, have beentough and became deadlocked in2007, due to the absence of lawsauthorizing the construction of anMRT system and because theJapanese government wanted 75

    percent of construction materialsand components for the project tocome from Japan.

    The problems were finallyresolved last year, enabling theJakarta administration to set up PTMass Rapid Transit Jakarta, acity-owned company that willoversee the planning, developmentand operation of the MRT system.

    Eddi Santosa, corporateplanning director at MRT

    Jakarta, said that JICA has agreed toprovide about 120 billion yen ($1.3

    billion) in loans, to be disbursed infour phases between 2008 and 2014.The loans have only 0.2 percentinterest, with a 10-year grace periodfor payments and a 30-year paybacktimetable. The central and Jakartagovernments will share the burdenof paying back the loans, Eddi said.

    The agreement requires that 35percent of construction materials beimported from Japan. The majorityof consultants and 51 percent of thecontractors also must be Japanese.

    Aside from the loans, financingfor the MRT system will also comefrom the central government andthe Jakarta administration. Thestate will put up $260 million andthe city will pitch in Rp 1.5 trillion(about $159 million).

    Despite public skepticism, theproject is already in the preparationand design phase, the latter of whichis being handled by the Ministry ofTransportation.

    Basic design [plannin g] willstart [this month], and by 2011 orearlier, the construction is projectedto begin, Eddi said. The MRT

    system is scheduled to open in 2016.That will be the first phase,serving 12 stations along a 14.5kmroute from Lebak Bulus in SouthJakarta to Dukuh Atas in CentralJakarta, just south of the HotelIndonesia traffic circle. The firsteight stations will be elevated on10.5-kilometers of track, while theremaining four will be underground.

    Each train will have six cars,arrive at stations every 5.5 minutesand carry about 350,000 passengersdaily. Fares will range from Rp 4,000to Rp 10,000 for a one-way trip.

    Weve learned from the MRT inNew Delhi, due to the similarity inurban planning, passenger densityand its success, Eddi said. TheirMRT runs on a 65km route andcarries 900,000 passengers daily.

    A second phase, after the first iscomplete, would extend the tracknorth to Kota Tua, and another linerunning east-west is planned forafter that.

    Building the MRT will createeven more traffic as it is being built.But the city Transportation Agencys

    Akbar said that the city governmenthad anticipated this and planned towiden affected roads, such as JalanFatmawati and Jalan TB Simatupangin South Jakarta, beginning by theend of this year.

    We will also shift the traffic

    Will the MRT Arrive?A Long-Promised First Line Is Still 7 Years Away

    An exhibition in Jakarta in June showed of the type o trains that might be used i the mass rapid transit system is built. The

    first line would be 14km rom South Jakarta to North Jakarta, with an east-west line planned or a uture phase. JG Photo Continued on Page 16

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    The MRT is not aimed ateliminating traic jams,

    but it does increase mobilityand improve quality o lie

    Eddi Santosa, corporate planningdirector o PT MRT Jakarta

    Hong Kongs Mass Transit Railway has long been a model o efficiency .

    But to be a success, Jakartas version will need to oster a cultural shit

    by encouraging more people onto public transport. JG Photo

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    Show somerespect anddont askor such alarge amounto money

    Jakarta Deputy GovernorSutanto Soehodo on thecitys monorail dispute

    routes once construction begins,and operate a TransJakarta busfrom Kebayoran Lama through BlokM and Sudirman, with hopes thatpeople will transfer to this bus,

    Akbar said, referring to the citysbusway system.

    Eddi said MRT Jakarta hadconsidered every possible technicalissue and contingency, includinganticipating f loods, fires andearthquakes. The company is alsostudying a second line that wouldstretch from Dukuh Atas northwardto Kota. No date has been set to

    begin that project.While an MRT system will make

    Jakarta more livable, it will notmagically make traffic vanish, justas it hasnt in other major citiesaround the world.

    The MRT is not aimed ateliminating traffic jams, but it willincrease mobility and improve thequality of life, Eddi said. It will nothave a significant impact unless it isintegrated with other modes ofpublic transportation.

    Milatia from the ITDP said that

    the MRT system would connect tobusway and commuter trains, aswell short-distance transportfeeders, such as taxis, bajajs andminivans. The entiretransportation system must beintegrated and revitalized beforethe MRT operates, she said.

    What About the Monorail?

    Now that it appears the MRT projectmay finally see the light of day,questions still remain about theaborted monorail system, whoseabandoned pillars are eyesores

    along roads in areas such as Senayanand Kuningan.

    Sutanto, the deputy governor, saidthe monorail project was only given apassing mention in the MacroTransportation Pattern plan, due tooverlapping routes with the MRTsystem and the fact that monorails bydefinition function more as statussymbols for cities rather than serioustransport solutions.

    In 2004, a privately financedinitiative offered to develop it andonly asked for the concession. The

    Jakarta administration at that time

    welcomed the initiative because itwas in the public interest, Sutantosaid, referring to former JakartaGovernor Sutiyoso.

    In return, t he operator wouldhave received a minimum revenueguarantee, meaning that ifpassenger numbers were under16,000 people per day, the centraland Jakarta governments wouldhave subsidized the difference.

    But the company, PT JakartaMonorail, failed to secure financingfrom Dubai Islamic Bank, and after

    building the pillars, it officially

    abandoned the project in March

    2008 due to legal and financialproblems. The project is now beingaudited by the State DevelopmentFinance Comptroller to determinehow much the city government willreimburse the company. Thecompany is asking for $60 million tocover its losses, but the stateauditing agency says it should onlyreceive one-third of that amount.

    Jakarta Monorails presidentdirector, Sukmawati Syukur, deniedthat the company failed to securefinancing, and instead blamed theJakarta administration for failing topurchase private land to clear spacefor construction.

    Wed already signed anagreement with Dubai Islamic

    Bank. But the city governmentfailed to meet its obligation,which was to clear the land, so

    the bank refused to disburse the

    funds, said Sukmawati, a relative of

    former Vice President Jusuf Kalla.The city government, she said,

    also incorrectly referred toPresidential Decree No. 67/2005 onpublic-private partnerships, whichrequires tendered bids. But weproposed the initiative in 2004, so[the decree] did not count,Sukmawati said.

    She said the Jakartaadministration had agreed whenthe contract was signed in 2004 toreimburse Jakarta Monorail if theproject was not completed.

    The administration denies thatthere ever was a reimbursementagreement, but Sutanto said the citygovernment was trying to showgoodwill by compensating some ofthe companys loss. The monorailroute was along roads that did notrequire the clearing of land. Thepillars were erected, so there were

    no issues related to the clearing of

    land, he said, angrily. We havegiven a shortfall r idership guaranteeand we dont have any legalobligations because the project wasstarted under their initiative. Wedont even have to pay anything, butwe still offered to settle the problemand continue the development. Justshow some respect and dont ask forsuch a large amount of money.

    If the two sides eventually doreach a settlement, Sutanto said, thecity will retender the project so themonorail line can still be built. Theplan is for the monorail to connectmajor shopping centers and

    buildings in Kuningan and Senayan.It would not serve commuters.

    The case appears set to go beforethe National Arbitration Agency.Hopefully, the more ambitious MRTsystem wont face similarheadaches.

    In 2004, above, assembly o monorail

    pillars was in ull swing. Hoardings

    showed a purplish train o the uture.

    In 2009, unsightly, rusting pilings are

    all thats let o the project. JG Photos

    From Page 14