As is the case whenever a new traffic policy is introduced in the city, police tend to go into full enforcement mode, fining huge numbers of violators.
That was the case yesterday, when the expanded odd-even traffic rule in Jakarta was officially enforced after a month-long awareness drive. Despite the threat of a maximum IDR500K (US$34) fine, the Jakarta Traffic Police still caught 1,102 violators of the rule. Most of them apparently did not commit the violation deliberately, unlike some who thought they could fool the police.
“The majority claimed that they forgot it was an odd-numbered date,” Traffic Police Director Yusuf told Kompas today.
Yusuf added that most violations occurred in new odd-even zones, while there were very few on old zones.
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 — was expanded to include more major roads in the capital in a bid to reduce congestion during the upcoming Asian Games.
This map below, from the Jakarta Transportation Agency, details exactly which roads are now covered by the odd-even rule. The light blue lines represent the roads where the odd-even rule was previously enforced, while the red lines represent the new additions and the blue dotted lines represent suggested alternate routes (be warned: they have reportedly been more jammed 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 is 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 prior to the expansion.
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. The government claims that the expansion increased traffic speed in the zones by 12% and improved air quality in the city due to an increase in citizens using public transportation.
Reader Interactions