The expansion of Jakarta’s odd-even traffic rule has gotten good reviews by many for cutting down on the capital’s notorious congestion, but it has also become an expensive problem for many Jakarta commuters, with police saying they have ticketed thousands of motorists for violating the new regulation ever since it was officially enforced on Aug 1.
As reported by Okezone, Jakarta Traffic Police Law Enforcement Division Head Budiyanto said that, as of today, the police have ticketed 21,281 drivers so far. The most odd-even violations occurred in East Jakarta — which had no odd-even zones prior to the expansion — where 4,128 motorists were ticketed while Central Jakarta — which had existing odd-even zones prior to the expansion — had the least violations with 2,409 tickets.
Motorists who violate the odd-even rule are subject to a IDR500K (US$34.20) fine.
Officials have claimed that the odd-even expansion, which was introduced for the ongoing Asian Games, has substantially reduced traffic congestion in the enforcement zones. The Transport Ministry today said it’s likely the expansion will be made permanent after the Asian Games concludes on September 2.
“It’s possible [that it will b made permanent] because we’re seeing significant effects on the speed of travel,” Transport Ministry official Ahmad Yani told CNN Indonesia yesterday.
However, Ahmad said that the decision to make the odd-even expansion permanent ultimately lies with the Jakarta Provincial Government.
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 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.
