Jakarta’s traffic congestion and economic dispersion

Jakarta’s traffic congestion and economic dispersion Teddy Lesmana ;  A Researcher at the Center for Economic Research,  Indonesian Institute of Sciences

JAKARTA POST, 22 Desember 2012

  

Traffic congestion has become a grave problem in Jakarta. It had been predicted that Jakarta will experience total gridlock in 2014.  The planned construction of a Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) system, which recently came into public discourse, has not been finalized.  Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has yet to make a decision on the MRT construction.  Had the Jokowi administration wanted to build the MRT system, what preconditions need to be met and how should the future direction of economic development activity be built in Jakarta and its surrounding areas? It could be said that it is too late for Jakarta to develop its MRT. Cities in the region such as Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore developed MRT infrastructure long before the rapid growth of private car ownership reached its summit. Conceptually, to overcome the problem of congestion, there are three broad categories of measures that could be taken. First, measures relating to the supply side of transportation facilities. For instance, by increasing transportation means capacity.  Second, the measures aimed at managing the demand side associated with efforts to encourage the efficient use of transportation facilities. Third, the development of urban structures that is conducive to the dispersion of economic activity along with the improvement of physical integration between work sites, public facilities and housing. Prior to building their public transportation systems, Japan, South Korea and Singapore conducted studies on traffic management demand policies and disincentives on private car ownership as part of their public transportation system development strategy.  In Seoul and Singapore, for example, in the early stages of MRT infrastructure, authorities limited the growth of the private vehicle ownership ratio to 70 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. More than a decade before Singapore’s MRT system started up in 1987, the government imposed restriction policies on private car ownership.  Later in the course of MRT development, Singapore introduced a “carrot and stick” approach to integrate and balance the development of public transport. They also imposed the vehicle quota system (VQT) and various taxes on private ownership of vehicles, including the introduction of a taxation scheme on congestion. Funds derived from the various taxes were then used for the initial MRT system construction phase. Similar measures were also in place in Seoul, South Korea. Meanwhile in Japan, the post-war national economic strategy put emphasis on frugal consumption, investment and maximization, which indirectly curbed the use of motorized vehicles. In addition, the tight and narrow roads in Tokyo put a disincentive to private vehicle use. As mentioned above, another important aspect that should be incorporated while creating a lively and sustainable city is the dispersion of economic activity poles. It is worth considering what has been done by Jaime Lerner, mayor of Curitiba, Parana State, in Brazil who successfully translated the initially dreadful city into an environmentally friendly and prosperous city. That city has also become the living laboratory of an ideal city. It has been the case in developing countries that successful agricultural mechanization programs lead to swift urbanization to urban areas. Such rapid urbanization requires a lot of change to city amenities such as public utilities infrastructure, transportation and urban economic activity. To address the growing city needs, Lerner tries to harmonize urbanization pressure with the concept of inclusive development. His policies contrast with the typology of urban development — where all the business centers and centralized government meet at one point.  Curitiba developed and dispersed the business and government centers equally to different areas and connected them by public transportation. There are three basic philosophies adopted in the progressive management of Curitiba. First, the development of the city that gives preference to the development of public transport rather than private vehicle use. Second, city development is in harmony with the environment.  Third, the application of appropriate technology and innovation to solve urban problems by involving the community in the city. Those visions were later institutionalized and eventually adopted by Lerner when he became mayor of Curitiba in 1971. In order to fix traffic congestion in Jakarta, simultaneous efforts should be concerted not only in the preparatory stage of mass transportation system development, but also in equal economic poles dispersion to surrounding cities. To realize this idea is certainly not only the responsibility of the Jakarta administration alone as it also requires intervention of the central government as well as coordination with other local administrations adjacent to Jakarta.  Counter-productive policies such as fuel subsidy and incentive to private vehicles ownership should also be addressed if Indonesia, especially Jakarta and other major cities, is willing to build the MRT. ●