TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN JAKARTA AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT

CHAPTER I

A. Background

The problem of congestion is a common phenomenon in every big city in the world, including in Jakarta. The increasing flow of vehicles into and out of Jakarta causes the roads in Jakarta to become more congested. This is not surprising given the fact that Jakarta is the economic center for the western Java area. In fact, one can also say that all of Indonesia’s economic activity is centered on Jakarta. Although congestion has become inevitable, the condition of Jakarta’s congestion has reached worrying levels. Congestion is a form of tive externalities that could lead to economic inefficiency. The time taken to travel from one place to another becomes longer which implies greater opportunity costs. As a result, the cost of making one trip would also increase. These conditions are one of the problems slowing the economic growth and development of Jakarta, which also affects the development of the area around Jakarta.

                                                        CHAPTER II

          B. Definition of Congestion

Congestion is a condition Where there is a buildup of vehicles on the road. The buildup is caused by the number of vehicles that unable to be balanced by adequate traffic facilities and infrastructure. As a result, the flow of the vehicle becomes choked up and the driving speed decreases. The average driving speed in Jakarta is currently around 15 km/hour, which is according to international standards this number is classified as traffic. This figure is below the number of driving speeds in cities in the world, such as Tokyo. This data shows that congestion conditions in Jakarta are quite severe. This congestion is caused by the increase in the number of private transportation in Jakarta.

Jakarta, as the biggest city in Indonesia, faces many problems, one of which is congestion, that produces a high cost economy. It is predicted that if the government does not take immediate action to solve this problem, there will be a potential loss of IDR65 trillion by 2020 (Bappenas, 2007). This consists of IDR28.1 trillion in operational costs and IDR36.9 trillion in opportunity costs from time lost. This study is aimed at estimating how much Jakarta citizens’ are willing to pay to overcome the congestion problem. By using the stated preference method, the estimation result shows that the annual cost of congestion in Jakarta is estimated at IDR50.2 trillion a year. Furthermore, this result can be used as a baseline for a cost-benefit analysis by the government to generate a better public transportation policy in Jakarta.

C. Causes of Jakarta Congestion

Congestion is one of the urban problems that always produce interesting discussions. Congestion is an example of the negative externalities resulting from traffic flow passing along roads. Externalities can be formed as an increase in the travel time, noise pollution, air pollution, excessive fuel consumption, and car accidents (Button, 1995). Of all the externalities arising from congestion, the problem of travel time has been the most discussed topic in research about urban congestion. Each road user, particularly the vehicle users or drivers, will compete with other vehicle users up to a certain degree. In other words, roads will have rivalry characteristics starting from a certain stage. Therefore, any additional vehicles passing along the road must cause longer travel times to be faced by the other vehicle users. Hence, this would cause externalities in the form of greater commuting costs for each vehicle user, along with larger opportunity costs (Sullivan, 2006)

The optimal tax can be determined through the public road and vehicle users’ preferences about the existing congestion. It is necessary to determine how much the citizens are willing to pay to avoid congestion since the main objective of a congestion tax is to internalize the costs of congestion so that the existing congestion can be reduced. Congestion is also a loss to the economy, so what needs to be determined here is the willingness of people to pay to overcome this loss (Pearce and Turner, 1990). In this case, public road users must determine how much cost they are willing to incur in averting congestion based on the current traffics’ congested condition

D. How to Overcome Congestion in Jakarta

1. Traffic Congestion in Jakarta SITRAMP (2004) had identified some of the causes and sources of traffic congestion in Jakarta. Generally, there were four main causes of traffic congestion in Jakarta, and if these issues are not resolved soon, they will develop into more severe congestion problems. a. Road Network Problems Road network performance can be measured through direct indicators perceived by the road users, one of which is the speed of vehicles on a certain road. The lower the average speed of the road users is; the lower the road network’s performance is. The performance of road intersections and each road segment are very influential on the overall road network’s performance. Congestion on one particular road segment, e.g. traffic congestion due to the road’s constringency or an intersection with a railway line, can develop and lead to congestion on other road segments. The problem of missing links, the inconsistent functional classification of the roads, the roads’ constringency, and improper intersection conditions may cause the traffic management to become less effective. An inadequate road network system and disorganized road hierarchy may also lead to conflicts between transportation modes, and conflicts between community activities (i.e. business, school activity, etc.). Moreover, the number and length of the roads in Jakarta is relatively small compared to the size of Jakarta. Table 2 shows that the ratio of the road to land area in Jakarta is at 7.76 percent, which is well under the ideal conditions for metropolitan cities (e.g. London and Tokyo), where it is supposed to be at 12−15 percent. The problems of infrastructure are also characterized by the different roads’ capacities, causing bottleneck effects, the lack of traffic signs, signals or traffic control lights, mixed types of cargo and passenger transportation, and damaged roads that are not immediately repaired. b. The abuse of road facilities and undisciplined road users The existence of the illegal use and abuse of road facilities, such as street vendors and illegal parking, can decrease roads’ capacity. Decreasing road capacity due to side friction can result in the reduced performance of these roads. It is characterized by the slowing of the flow of traffic, which thereby extends the travel time of the road users. The behavior of the roads’ users, such as pedestrians, passengers and drivers, either in private or public transportation, can also affect the road network’s performance as a whole. Violations of the traffic rules such as improperly crossing the road, passing through red lights, haphazardly stopping vehicles, and loading/offloading passengers at improper places are risky for the roads’ users, and likely to cause traffic congestion 

CHAPTER III

A. Conclusion

According to the SITRAMP (2004), there are at least four factors causing the worsening traffic congestion problem in Jakarta. These factors include (1) the problem of the road network; (2) the abuse of the road facilities and the indisciplined nature of many road users; (3) the relatively low growth rate of road infrastructure; and (4) the high growth rate of private vehicles. Of these four factors, the high growth rate of private vehicles is considered as the main factor causing the severe traffic congestion in Jakarta

A. Suggestions

Communities should obey traffic rules and make use of public transportation so that the use of private vehicles can be minimized. The government would be wise to build adequate facilities and infrastructure for road users so that it can provide comfort and minimize congestion. In addition, enforcement of regulations for road users must also be emphasized to discipline the road users.