Starting today, Jakarta will likely experience even more maddening macet than usual thanks to the the odd-even traffic rule being expanded to more of the city’s major roads.
The odd-even rule — which only allows vehicles with odd-numbered plates to use certain major roads during rush hours on odd calendar dates and vice-versa — is now being expanded in anticipation of next month’s Asian Games to clear major roads of gridlock. Starting today (July 2), the Jakarta Provincial Government and the Jakarta Metro Police are enforcing a month-long awareness drive and trial period before the expansion officially comes into effect on August 1.
This map below, from the Jakarta Transportation Agency, details exactly which roads will implement the odd-even rule. The light blue lines represent the existing roads with the odd-even rule enforced, while the red lines represent the additions and the blue dotted lines represent suggested alternate routes (be warned: they will be jammed more than usual).
The biggest expansion stretches all the way from Jalan S. Parman in West Jakarta, through Gatot Subroto, M.T. Haryono, D.I. Panjaitan, Jenderal Ahmad Yani up to Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta, measuring close to 22km.
The other three points of expansion are: South Jakarta’s Jalan Arteri Pondok Indah — Kebayoran Baru, Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said, and Central Jakarta’s Jalan Benyamin Sueb, Kemayoran.
In addition, under the expansion, the odd-even rule will now be enforced for 15 hours every workday, from 6am to 9pm. This is much longer than the 7am-10am and 4pm-8pm rush hour windows pre-expansion.
During the trial period, violators of the odd-even rule won’t be fined, but starting August 1, the IDR500K (US$34.74) fine applies.
The Jakarta Provincial Government has not decided on whether or not the expansion will still apply after the Asian Games concludes on September 2, but there has been talk that they are considering making it permanent beyond the Games.
