City weighs price scheme for main roads

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Transportation Agency is drawing up plans to introduce Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) to better control traffic and improve air quality in the capital.

The agency's deputy head, Udar Pristono, said his employees were finalizing details of the plan.

"We are analyzing the legal aspects to synchronize the system with government regulations on taxes and the bylaw about traffic," he explained.

"We are also studying the technical aspects to identify which is going to be the most appropriate system to be adopted here."

The system, which is in use in countries including Singapore, Germany, Austria and Belgium, would require car owners to purchase an electronic ticket to drive on main thoroughfares in the city.

ERP is expected to replace the current three-in-one policy, which requires cars to have at least three passengers in order to use major streets during peak hours.

According to Udar, the most suitable ERP for Jakarta would be one like Singapore's, which uses a pre-paid smart card. He said the agency had yet to determine the optimal ticket price.

"There are many criteria that we should consider, including people's ability and willingness to pay," he told The Jakarta Post.

Udar was upbeat about people's likely acceptance of the system, noting that people already shell out money for extra passengers in order to use major roads during the peak hours.

"If they are now willing to pay the three-in-one jockeys, why would they mind buying an ERP ticket? They will get what they pay for," he said. He added that the agency would set an affordable price.

The agency will work together with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and other related stakeholders to develop the system.

ITDP founder and president Michael Replogle said the system offered many advantages, including increasing road capacity to its maximum productive level and increasing vehicle speeds.

"The system can also reduce congestion, pollution and fuel consumption since it may encourage people to use public transportation," he said Thursday during a discussion of ERP.

"Thus, the revenue of public transportation will also rise."

Oscar Alarik, deputy director of Stockholm's congestion charge secretariat, who also attended the discussion, said Sweden had conducted a seven-month trial of the system in 2006.

"The people were skeptical about ERP before we started the trial. Based on survey results, about 60 percent of them opposed it," he said.

"But after we had applied the system for six months, more people changed their perception as they began to feel the benefits of the system."

Sweden is the most recent country to adopt the ERP.

According to data from ITDP, the number of vehicles in Jakarta grows by 11 percent per year. There are around five million private cars and motorcycles on the city's roads.