Baswedan has also called on companies to give incentives to their employees cycling to work. The incentives, he said, could be in the form of subsidized insurance premiums or additional facilities for cyclists.
"We also require buildings, including shops, to prepare 10 percent of their parking lots for bicycles. So anyone who comes by bike can park," he said.
Susanto applauded those plans, which he believed would encourage more people to cycle and help reduce air pollution in the city.
Likewise, he hoped that the city administration would also provide other facilities and conveniences for cyclists, including more secure bicycle parking racks and shower facilities for cyclists before they enter their offices.
Another cyclist Dennis Koh is concerned that cycling in Jakarta is still far from being safe although the city administration has developed special bike lanes.
One Friday evening last month, Koh was trying out his new bicycle, riding from his office in central Jakarta to his house in south Jakarta through a bike lane on the main thoroughfare, when a man riding a motorcycle carrying a woman suddenly hit him from behind.
"I fell down and got injured. They were riding on the bike lane to avoid the traffic. This isn't the first time I saw such thing happening," Koh said.
The 26-year-old man expressed his hope that the authorities would persistently take stern measures against those violating bike lane rules.
"We, Jakartans, should create a bicycle revolution as more people are cycling for sports, leisure and so on," he added.
Read: Jakarta Police to Discipline Cyclists Disregarding Traffic Laws
Xinhua
