Solving Jakarta's Traffic Problem

Traffic jams are daily occurrences in Jakarta. And sadly, the actions taken by relevant authorities to solve this problem have always been nothing more than building more roads and highways. Recently, the authority announced yet another plan to build 6 more highways and its intended objective of easing congestion. Looking at the dire situation, such moves are definitely insufficient.

It is long overdue that the authorities explore various mechanisms to reduce private ownerships of vehicles. It is common to see a family of 5 owning 3-4 vehicles when it isn’t necessary for them to do so. Bidding of plate number, congestion charges and higher taxes are definitely worth implementing rather than superficial methods such as a requirement for 1 vehicle to have at least 3 passengers (which can be easily overcome by the vehicle owners).

Concurrently, the authority should look at overhauling the public transport system so as to encourage existing vehicle owners to switch to public transport. It can also entice potential vehicle buyers to dump altogether their plans.

I believe that exploring these will better solve the congestion than building even more roads and highways.