The odd-even traffic scheme, which is going to commence its trial run on some of Jakarta’s main streets on July 27, will likely limit the movements of ride-sharing vehicles from apps like Uber and Grab in the capital, particularly those driving into or around the affected zones.
Andri Yansyah, head of Jakarta’s Transportation Agency, yesterday clarified that while registered public transportation vehicles are exempt from the odd-even rule, ride-sharing vehicles will not be as they are technically no different from private vehicles.
“Public transportation vehicles with yellow license plates (which are given exclusively to public transportation vehicles) are allowed [to bypass the odd-even rule], those without yellow license plates aren’t allowed,” Andri said, as quoted by Merdeka.
“If they want to enter odd-even zones they can change [into yellow license plates].”
All ride-hailing vehicles currently sport black license plates (which are given to private vehicles), but there have been calls in the past to have them legalized so that they too adhere to public transportation regulations. However, this would lessen their appeal to customers as their existing pricing schemes -– which generally yield lower fares than those of regular taxis — would be jeopardized.
The odd-even rule comes as a stop-gap solution to the worsening rush hour traffic in Jakarta following the removal of the 3-in-1 rule. The test of the new system will run until August 20 and will be enforced on Jalan Thamrin, Jalan Sudirman, Jalan Gatot Subroto and also Jalan Rasuna Said (the last of which was not previously covered by the 3-in-1 rule) weekdays from 7am to 10pm and 4pm to 8pm. Under the rule, only cars with license plates ending in odd numbers can use those roads during rush hours on odd calendar dates, and vice-versa.
Emergency vehicles and those carrying high level government officials are also exempt from the rule.
