[sustran] Indonesia's traffic nightmare

[Sudhir]

*"lawmakers voted unanimously this month to demand disabled people wear
signs announcing their condition so motorists won't run them down as they
cross the street.*"

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_396512.html

 JAKARTA - NEW laws requiring disabled pedestrians to wear traffic signs
have met with frustration and derision in Indonesia, where in the eyes of
the law cars have taken priority over people.

The laws will do nothing to improve road safety or ease the traffic that is
choking the life out of the capital city of some 12 million people, and
serve only to highlight official incompetence, analysts said.

Within five years, if nothing changes, experts predict Jakarta will reach
total gridlock, with every main road and backstreet clogged with barely
moving, pollution-spewing cars.

That's too late for the long-awaited urban rail link known as the Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT), which has only just entered the design stage and won't be
operational until 2016 at the earliest.

'Just like a big flood, Jakarta could be paralysed. The city's mobility will
die,' University of Indonesia researcher Nyoman Teguh Prasidha said.

Instead of requiring level footpaths and ramps, l*awmakers voted unanimously
this month to demand disabled people wear signs announcing their condition
so motorists won't run them down as they cross the street.
*
Experts say the new traffic law is sadly typical of a country which for
decades has allowed cars and an obsession with car ownership to run rampant
over basic imperatives of urban planning.

'It is strange when handicapped people are asked to carry extra burdens and
obligations,' Institute of Transportation Studies (Instran) chairman
Darmaningtyas said.

'The law is a triumph for the automotive industry. It's completely useless
for alleviating the traffic problem.' The number of motor vehicles including
motorcycles in greater Jakarta has almost tripled in the past eight years to
9.52 million. Meanwhile road space has grown less than one percent annually
since 2004, according to the Indonesian Transport Society.

'Traffic congestion is like cancer,' Institute for Transportation and
Development Policy specialist Harya Setyaka said. 'This cancer has developed
over 30 years as Jakarta begins to develop haphazardly beyond its carrying
capacity.' A 2004 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency found
that traffic jams cost Jakarta some 8.3 trillion rupiah (822 million
dollars) a year in extra fuel consumption, lost productivity and health
impact. -- AFP











-- 
Sudhir Gota
Transport Specialist
CAI-Asia Center
Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower,
ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
Tel: +63-2-395-2843
Fax: +63-2-395-2846
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia
Skype : sudhirgota
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