Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama can now have his “told ya so” moment to critics who panned the administration’s motorcycle ban on major roads in the city. The numbers don’t lie: the Jakarta Police revealed that traffic congestion levels have decreased 30% on motorcycle-free roads, and we’re not even one month into the trial run of the motorcycle ban, which began on December 17, 2014.
“Our conclusion is traffic congestion can be alleviated [by the motorcycle ban],” said Jakarta Police spokesman Grand Commissioner Martinus Sitompul, as quoted by Tempo yesterday.
Martinus said the police have observed three traffic improvements on roads affected by the motorcycle ban during the trial period. In addition to reduced traffic congestion, traffic violations have also decreased, which in turn means that there are much fewer accidents.
That said, Martinus admitted that the motorcycle ban on major roads has congested traffic on alternate routes. He hopes more people will switch to public transportation to alleviate traffic congestion on Jakarta’s busiest roads.
So, despite winning the first battle, Governor Ahok must now figure out a way to get more people to switch to public transportation. Otherwise, he has only just effectively moved one road’s traffic congestion problem to another.
