Car-Free Policy Applied in Malioboro; Sultan Asks Tourists to Walk

TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X hoped tourists and residents in the city will begin to adapt to the new condition of Malioboro. The street has been set as a full pedestrian zone under the car-free policy.

“I hope [tourists and people] enter Jalan Malioboro and the area by walking, as we do abroad,” said Sultan on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

The motorized vehicle-free would undergo a trial period for the next two weeks, on November 3-15, 2020. The trial was projected as the last one since the first trial was held in 2019.

Due to the policy, access of people using motorized vehicles to Malioboro would be relatively farther. Besides, the parking areas provided were not set right beside the iconic street.

Sultan argued that those main issues, difficult to park vehicles or parking distance that were considered too far, were attributable to habitual factors.

The government, he added, was mulling over parking spaces to increase the capacity of tourists’ vehicles, especially cars and tour buses. However, he admitted that looking for vacant lands around the street was hard.

Street vendors, meanwhile, would be moved to new areas to the ex-Mutiara Hotel that has been taken over by Yogyakarta administration for an exhibition of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and tourism.

Also Read: Yogyakarta's Renowned Malioboro Implements Car Free Zone

PRIBADI WICAKSONO