Well that was fast. In the wake of last weekend’s shocking arrest of four people for beating and drugging young children to help them make money, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama suggested getting rid of the capital’s long standing 3-in-1 traffic rule, which many believe was leading people to exploit children to make a profit of the carpooling scheme. Ahok said he wanted to test getting rid of the 3-in-1 as soon as next week.
And as Ahok asked, so it shall be done. This morning, the head of Jakarta’s Transportation Department (Dishubtrans), Andri Yansyah, said that the government was ready to start testing the removal of the 3-in-1 system next Tuesday.
“It was decided that the trial will be conducted starting Tuesday, April 5, 2016. We have already coordinated with the police,” Andri told Liputan6.
Andri said officials from Dishubtrans had met with the Jakarta Traffic Police yesterday to coordinate how the test would be conducted and agreed that preparations could be ready by next Tuesday.
The head of Dishubtrans also said that the government would let Jakartans know about the test through traditional and social media.
He did not mention how long the test would run for, but Governor Ahok previously said he wanted it to run for a week or two.
The 3-in-1 rule applies every weekday from 7am to 10am and 4:30pm to 7pm. During those times only vehicles with three or more passengers in the car are legally allowed to use Jakarta’s major roads.
Some traffic experts have warned that revoking the 3-in-1 rule could cause a tremendous increase in traffic, considering that the government has not yet put an alternative traffic control scheme, like electronic road pricing (ERP), in place. However, Governor Ahok has argued that the 3-in-1 is already inefficient and poorly enforced. He also said he’d be happy to wait longer in traffic if it meant fewer children being abused (a sentiment we completely agree with).
