Gov’t considering 4-in-1 carpooling scheme to replace 3-in-1 during rush hours

The Jakarta provincial government has made it pretty clear that the 3-in-1 carpool scheme is as good as gone, even if its removal is currently still in the trial stage. What’s clear is that, with it gone, there has to be an alternative car reduction scheme from Jakarta’s busiest roads during rush hours.

One of the most talked about alternatives is the installment of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system, but realistically it would take at least 1.5 years for it to be implemented on the capital’s main streets.

Another alternative that the government discussed recently was an updated version of the carpool scheme, namely a 4-in-1, which would only allow cars with at least 4 people inside to drive on certain streets during certain hours.

“But this is just one alternative [option]. We’ll decide later after the trial [removal of 3-in-1] is over on May 14,” said Sunardi, deputy head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.

Sunardi said that the 4-in-1 scheme would only apply in the afternoon, unlike the 3-in-1 scheme that applied in the morning and in the afternoon. However, the 4-in-1 would go on for an hour longer than 3-in-1 in the afternoon, from 4:30 pm to 8 pm.

Is 4-in-1 the right solution to reduce traffic jams on Jakarta’s main streets? Well, one of the criticisms of the 3-in-1 was that it was difficult to enforce to begin with, as it would involve police officers peering into every single car to spot the violators. Yet the government hasn’t given us any indication to believe the enforcement of 4-in-1 would be any easier.

Another criticism of the 3-in-1 is that people got around the rule by hiring “3-in-1 jockeys” off the street to ride with them for a small fee, a situation which some argued was causing child exploitation. If the police continued to be lax in preventing people from hiring jockeys, the 4-in-1 could create the potential for even more widespread child abuse for profit.



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