Jakarta’s traffic is, obviously, really bad. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
And it will get better, promises Jakarta Governor Basuki Purnama Tjahaja. But it’s only because of all of the mass transit construction projects that are going on now, which will make the capital’s traffic even more hellish for a while.
“I’m very sorry, ladies and gentlemen, Jakarta will have worse traffic until 2018. But we promise to build mass transit to solve it,” Ahok said while delivering a speech at a World Alzheimer’s Month event taking place at the National Monument yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
Those projects include the construction of nine light rail transit (LRT) corridors, six new inner-city toll roads, a three-lane Transjakarta overpass corridor, as well as construction of the mass rapid transit (MRT) system.
It’s a lot of ambitious projects to be undertaken simultaneously. And they won’t be start to be completed until at least 2018. And remember, the next Jakarta governor’s race is in 2017. So Ahok might not even be in office when the benefits of all of the construction projects he has initiated will be felt.
Nonetheless, Ahok is planning for a day when more Jakartans can ditch their private vehicles in favor of mass transit. He’s planning to add way more free buses to the city’s streets to help people make the switch and is enlisting private companies to help him do that.
“So I’ve asked CIMB Niaga Bank to be present here today so they can also donate free double decker buses to accommodate the people of Jakarta,” Ahok said to the assorted senior citizens and CIMB Niaga officials present at the event. The governor said the bank could plaster the buses with their ads, as well as signs that could help raise awareness about Alzheimer’s.
“Be patient, we will flood Jakarta with free double-decker buses. Some of the Transjakarta corridors are already operating 24 hours. At midnight you just have to wait 30 minutes for them. And once the LRT and MRT is completed, we will remove a lot of the old buses,” Ahok said, which earned him loud applause from the audience.
Hopefully people will be able to understand why the macet has to get worse before it can get better and Ahok will still be in office when the results of all of his mass transport projects start to bear fruit.
