Focus on physical expansion takes its toll on services

Adisti Sukma Sawitri and Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some years ago, then Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso was presented with a striking prediction for the city's traffic in a report by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

By 2014, the report said, Jakarta would experience gridlock unless the administration took steps to alleviate the problem.

"I was told that by 2014 I would probably get in my car and leave the garage only to find a severely packed street before me," Sutiyoso once told The Jakarta Post.

"I immediately ordered my subordinates to call transportation experts to my office. I asked them to design an integrated public transportation system."

Under his iron-fist leadership, Sutiyoso established the Macro Transportation Framework in 2004, offering a comprehensive solution to the city's traffic congestion with a system that included two rail-based transit lines, water transportation and a busway.

His initial breakthrough was the completion of the first busway corridor in 2004, which he had ordered despite a public outcry.

If failures are poisonous, success was definitely addictive. Detractors were silenced the moment the Blok M-Kota corridor opened, and Jakartans from all walks of life began to see hope in the future of Jakarta's public transportation.

Sutiyoso won several awards for his policies that year, and afterwards, the former chief of the Jakarta Military Command went on to construct four corridors in only a year, in 2006.

A mid-level official who requested anonymity said the governor's strategy at the time was "to build first, improve later".

"He (Sutiyoso) told us the most important thing we could do was finish the (construction of lanes). Improvements and services could be added after all 15 corridors were established," the source said.

The administration's plan for the busway system was quite simple. The Public Works Agency and the Transportation Agency agreed each would tender engineering projects for corridors, with the former dealing in lane construction and road adjustments while the latter built shelters, pedestrian bridges and other support infrastructure.

The Public Works Agency took the responsibility for the environmental impact analysis and the Transportation Agency dealt with the traffic management study, including the impact of the construction phase on the traffic flow along affected roads.

Construction of shelters and other supporting infrastructure usually takes more time than lane construction. Construction for Corridors 4 to 7, for example, took less than six months, while shelters and other supporting facilities could take two years.

In the Corridor 5 Kampung Melayu-Ancol, for example, the Transportation Agency is still building a fence separating roads at Jl. Jatinegara despite the corridor's opening earlier this year.

The absence of pedestrian bridges along the main thoroughfare has led people to cross the streets and busway lanes at random, and motorists have to frequently brake to avoid hitting pedestrians.

The time gap between the construction of the lane and its supporting facilities has led to a rocky start for the busway.

The focus on infrastructure expansion, and not the improvement of supporting facilities, was justified by arguments of convenience: lane construction was simply easier and more visible.

The recent problem with Corridor 8 Lebak Bulus-Harmoni was also due to hastened construction. The Public Works Agency went ahead with the corridor's construction in September without an environmental impact assessment, which came in vain two months later.

The absence of the analysis made residents of Pondok Indah angry as it seemed the administration constructed the lanes without considering the affected surroundings.

The detailed engineering design of routes, shelters and pedestrian bridges for the three corridors also came late this year, as no one bid for it last year.

Asia regional director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, John Ernst, said after the relative success of the first corridor (Blok M-Kota), the expansion had been "overly ambitious". The city went on constructing despite the lack of legal details and arrangements, he said.

He said the administration's focus on expansion had made related agencies and institutions less coordinated with one another.

"A longer time for planning would have improved operational quality in each corridor," he said.

Head of the Transportation Agency Nurrachman said the rapid expansion was pushed by Sutiyoso.

"The target of 15 corridors in 2010 was the former governor's (Sutiyoso) request. As a subordinate, I only followed orders," he said.

Nurrachman denied the charge his agency was the one primarily responsible for any failures.

"We did everything together with other related agencies," he said, referring to the Public Works Agency, the Illumination Agency and the Parks Agency.

Responding to criticism on the differing qualities of busway facilities, Nurrachman blamed it on the lack of financial support.

"We would have built the largest and the most convenient infrastructure if we had the resources. Sometimes busway facilities need to be built on private lands; it's not easy dealing with them when we don't have money to buy them," he said. (lln)