Nuice Piece: Electronic Road Pricing is not a magic bullet
It might help but Jakarta’s congestion problems are deep rooted
You’re stuck in a jam but you’re almost there. Maybe if you look around you’ll see a large four wheeled vehicle that can carry dozens of people at once instead of one person at a time going in the same direction as you. If enough of you are on it, there’d be less congestion.
Rainy mornings like this week’s expose the failings of Jakarta’s public transport network. Whether you’re on a public transport or a private vehicle you’re bound to get stuck on the road during rain simply due to the volume of vehicles.
There are more than 16 million motorcycles registered in the capital city (that’s more than the number of residents) and more than 4 million cars, with millions more from the neighbouring cities. While not all of them will descend on the streets at the same time, plenty enough do, which generate the level of congestion that cripples the city every morning and early evening.
As most of the population don’t live within walking distance to the MRT stations or bus stops, the lack of covered walkways and sheltered road side bus stops make it very challenging, if not plain inconvenient, for people to use public transport. The dozens of bus routes can’t serve the city enough given the long lead times between buses on the same line, forcing lengthy wait times for passengers and leaving dedicated bus stops severely packed during rush hours.
Even for short distance travels people prefer motorcycles due to the lack of suitable pedestrian access, accessible public facilities, and commercial centres or hubs.
All of these issues mean there’s an ever increasing demand for personal vehicles as people are more inclined to avoid the inconvenience of public transport if they can and get their own.
The latest plan to combat traffic congestion is by implementing electronic road pricing (ERP). Technically it’s been discussed for nearly two decades but it has also been mired in bureaucratic black hole for just as long through the leaderships of seven governors.
The current interim Governor Heru Budi Hartono seems intent on finally putting the ERP in place. 25 city streets have been named as potential candidates for ERP implementation having passed four criteria which are volume density ratio, average top speed, functionality, and availability of a robust public transport network.
City officials have underlined that while they have been running tests, the actual implementation will take a little longer as regulatory frameworks are still being discussed and debated. They expect the regulations to be passed by the end of the year, but they don’t plan to implement ERP simultaneously on the 25 city streets.
There will be an introductory phase before an eventual wider rollout but concerns over confusion and further traffic jams created by ERP zones have yet to be fully addressed at this stage.
Motorcycles make up at least 75% of the vehicles on Jakarta’s roads, according to a transportation researcher, and excluding them will defeat the entire point of the limitation but this will certainly affect the livelihoods of ojeks and couriers.
While it does seem that lives will be more difficult for them, the city is adamant on reducing the number of motor vehicles and clearing the smoggy air over the city, which is why there is a push towards electric vehicles as well, which in itself is an argument for a different time. It remains to be seen whether the city will find a way to accomodate couriers.
One way to get around the need for couriers is the full acceptance of digital documents instead of always requesting physical documents for authenticity, but it’s 2023 and many businesses and organizations still insist on them anyway. Packages on the other hand, can be a little trickier.
Proceeds from the ERP are expected to be used to improve public transport, especially TransJakarta, which has had numerous buses sidelined over the years due to high maintenance and operational costs. On top of that, TransJakarta buses remain not properly accessible to the elderly, let alone those with disabilities.
Another significant factor that should be considered is redesigning the city to be much more accessible to pedestrians with the necessary amenities and facilities to reduce the need to travel further distances on personal vehicles or ojeks. Currently even access to and from the MRT is limited as most only have one set of escalators installed going one direction and they’re not exactly bicycle friendly.
Introducing ERP is not going to work without concurrently addressing all those issues. It’s not just about reducing the amount of vehicles that pack the city, it’s finding ways to accomodate and fulfil the needs of the people who are dependent on the city as well.