TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Djoko Sasono, director-general of land transportation, deserves commendation for stepping down from his position over the recent unprecedented holiday traffic jams. His resignation gives hope that common sense still exists among public officials.
Traffic congestion during the combined holidays of Maulud, Christmas and the year end was far worse than those during Idul Fitri. Hundreds of vehicles meandered through the heavy traffic that began in Jakarta. It took, for instance, 17 to 22 hours from Jakarta to Bandung via the toll road, seven times the normal hours. The Jakarta-Cikampek stretch, which normally takes an hour, took 10 hours.
The traffic pandemonium is glaring proof of the government's inability in anticipating long holidays. This year, Christmas and the New Year holidays were preceded by the day off commemorating Prophet Muhammad's birthday. Yet, the metro and traffic police failed to prepare alternative routes, nor did they set up command posts or resting areas for worn-out drivers. There were no traffic medians either to prevent giant trucks from entering toll roads. As a result, thousands of cars were stuck in what looked like rows of parked cars.
And the effects were overwhelming. What were intended to be pleasant family holiday trips turned out to be ordeals. Schedules were delayed. Numerous material and immaterial losses entitled the public to file a class-action suit against the government for its inadequacy.
Besides exhaustion and frustration, fuel energy was also wasted. According to toll road operator Jasa Marga, 325,000 vehicles passed through three main toll gates (Cikampek, Karang Tengah and Cibubur) daily at the peak of the Christmas holiday. If each car used up additional 3 liters of fuel due to the holdup, 975,000 liters of fuel are wasted each day. At the price of Rp7,400 per liter Premium gasoline, that would come to Rp7.215 billion unnecessarily 'burned' each day. This is just a rough calculation. The real numbers are sure to be much higher as the jams that went on for days most probably happened elsewhere during those holidays.
The government should in no way downplay the traffic problems, holidays or not. Djoko Sasono's resignation is laudable, but it does not compensate for his department's slackness. The public transport system must be revamped without further delay and traffic bottlenecks anticipated on all fronts.
The most ridiculous cause behind the mayhem is the manual toll payment system. Time needed to pay, calculate and then return small change could be easily eliminated with the electronic system. Users only need to slap the e-toll card on the reader and continue driving an incredibly easy way to reduce time and energy.
However, the migration from the manual to electronic system requires commitment from all parties. Banks, for one, should make e-toll cards easily available to the public. Jasa Marga also needs to be consistent by abolishing manual toll gates. TransJakarta buses as well as electric trains in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi have successfully switched to the electronic system. Easy top-ups can also be facilitated via ATMs. Jasa Marga should not make any more excuses to delay switching to the electronic payment system. (*)
