We know you just heard about how Jakarta has the WORST TRAFFIC IN THE WORLD (even though that’s not quite what the report said but whateva) but this new research from the the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) somehow makes it worse by quantifying just how much of our lives we Jakartans are forced to spend on the road every year.
According to the ITDP’s research, Jakartans spend, on average, 400 hours per year just driving from their homes to their office and back. That means that the average one-way commute in Jakarta is 2 hours long.
The Director of ITDP Indonesia, Yoga Adiwinarto, says most people don’t have any way to cut their travel time as public transportation is still unreliable and often a major source of traffic in and of itself.
Yoga said that, in terms of quality of life and productivity, commutes shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. Therefore, ITDP’s recommendation is that the city focuses on building more affordable housing within the center of the city, in areas such as Tanah Abang, Setiabudi and Karet.
The ITDP director also made the point that many people lived in Jakarta’s outlying areas to achieve a better quality of life, but that long commutes negate that.
“Achieving a better quality of life in the suburbs is no longer worth it given the amount of time we have to spend on the roads which also leads to a lack of quality time spent with families and children at home,” Yoga said as quoted by Kompas.
