Jakarta Turns to Software Modeling to Avoid Future Gridlocks
4 November 2015 19:14 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The use of private vehicles in Greater Jakarta is expected to increase by 40 percent in 2020 according to a 2012 study known as Jabodetabek Public Transportation Policy Implementation Strategy (JAPTAPIS). What's worrying is that the utilization of public transportation is expected to drop by 18,5 percent within the same period, says the Head of Research and Development for the Ministry of Transport, Elly Adriani Sinaga.
"As a result, the average speed within the city is expected to crawl to 8,4 kilometres per hour - a staggering 35,6 percent dip between 2010-2020," said Elly at the opening of the Greater Jakarta Transportation Policy Forum on Wednesday, November 4, 2015.
Elly explained, to solve the capital's traffic woes, Jakarta needs to be much more integrated and that a multi-faceted solution that encompasses better town planning, as well as higher levels of transportation and infrastructure organization is desperately needed - a discussion that has been on the table since 1974 but has not made any significant headway.
In order to do so, the Ministry of Transport - along with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the University of Leeds - have come up with a model known as MARS (Metropolitan Activity Relocation and Simulation) to understand Jakarta's complex traffic issues better.
"MARS is a software we could use to test any policies relating to traffic, so that we could understand the impact better," said Elly, who claims that the Light Rail Transit's (LRT) efficiency and impact on traffic could be tested through the software.
According to the Ministry of Transport's records, Greater Jakarta is populated by 27,700,727 people - with an average density of 4,585 people per square metre. In 2014 alone, Jakarta residents made 10,86 million trips every day, and the number is expected to grow by 3 to 4 percent every year.
"Congestion is beginning to spread towards Jakarta's satellite cities, and those who work in the middle of the city has it worst because every day, millions of workers from Depok, Bogor, Bekasi and Tangerang - who have been priced out from the city centre - use their private vehicles to commute to work," said Elly.
ALI HIDAYAT
