Govt Readies Four Traffic Policies for Asian Games
By
Ingki Rinaldi
·4 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ) has readied four traffic policies to be implemented during the 2018 Asian Games, which the capital will co-host with Palembang, South Sumatra, from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2. Apart from the expanded odd-even traffic policy and tollgate closures, the government also seeks to limit the operational hours for trucks and add buses on the routes affected by the expanded odd-even traffic policy.
BPTJ head Bambang Prihartono said on Wednesday (1/8/2018) that the policies should be implemented concurrently, as they were interlinked. The expanded odd-even traffic policy, for instance, supported the tollgate closures by reducing the congestion the closures might cause.
“Without the odd-even policy, the tollgate closures could create massive traffic jams everywhere,” Bambang said.
The restricted operational hours for trucks were reduced slightly from the initial schedule of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The sections of Jl. Arteri Pondok Indah and Jl. Benyamin Sueb affected by the odd-even traffic policy have also been shortened.
The number of tollgates to be closed during the Asian Games has also been reduced from the initial 19 to just four tollgates closed in the morning and three tollgates closed in the afternoon.
The tollgates closed from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. are the Angke 2, Tanjung Duren, Slipi 2 and the TMII entry ramp. Meanwhile, the tollgates closed from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. are the Angke 1, Slipi 1 and TMII 2. The tollgates will be closed only during the Asian Games.
“The decisions were made after a month-long evaluation and a final simulation on Wednesday,” said Bambang.
Jakarta Police traffic unit chief Sr. Comr. Yusuf said that a trial run driving from the Athletes Village in Kemayoran, North Jakarta, and the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) cultural park in East Jakarta took 27 minutes. Meanwhile, the trial run from the Athletes Village to the Bung Karno Sports Stadium (GBK) in Central Jakarta took 20 minutes. The travel times fulfill the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) standards, which sets a maximum travel time of 30-34 minutes between the Athletes Village and sports venues.
“[The travel times] are similar to those in a previous simulation [on July 20],” Yusuf said at the Athletes Village.
Bambang said he proposed that the expanded odd-even policy hours be shortened to run from 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. “We took into account the effectiveness of logistics transportation and public concerns, especially from businesspeople,” he said.
Jakarta Transportation Agency chief Andri Yansyah said that the odd-even policy would be evaluated daily according to the number of violators and other factors.
Ticketing for motorists violating the odd-even traffic policy on Jakarta’s 13 major thoroughfares began Wednesday. However, police officers still let some violators off with warnings.
On Jl. Metro Pondok Indah in South Jakarta, ticketing began only after midday because of delays in installing road signs on the odd-even policy.
Traffic congestion was seen on several major thoroughfares in the city on Wednesday afternoon, such as in the Slipi area, as a result of the odd-even policy and the tollgate closures.
Public transportation
Data from city-owned public transportation company PT Transportasi Jakarta showed that Transjakarta buses had served 305,489 passengers by 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday along its 13 corridors. Transjakarta spokesman Wibowo said that the passenger volume was higher than the 297,584 recorded on Tuesday.
Motorist Hendro Sutresno, 39, said that he decided to take the Transjakarta bus for the past two days. He said that he supported the odd-even traffic policy during the Asian Games, but that he hoped the policy would only be temporary.
“After the Asian Games, I hope the policy will be lifted. As a citizen, I also want to enjoy the city’s roads,” he told Kompas on Wednesday evening at the Jamsostek busway shelter on Jl. Gatot Subroto (IRE/JOG/E07/E09/E11/E12/E16/E17/E19/E22)