Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – A new traffic law that legalizes motorcycle taxis (ojek) will add to the chaos on Jakarta's roads and undermine passenger safety, a transportation expert says.
Chairman of the Institute of Transportation Studies (Instran) noted that articles in the recently passed bill acknowledge motorcycles as a form of public transportation.
He pointed out that the new law defines a public motor vehicle as "any vehicle used for transporting people or goods for a fee". Another article of the law clearly states that public transportation includes motorcycles.
"The article on public vehicles includes all vehicles used to transport people for a fee. That means it includes ojek because people pay the ojek drivers to take them places," he said.
He objected to the legalization of ojek as a form of public transportation as, he said, it would increase the chaos on the city's streets. "Ojek drivers do not have routes. They can wait for passengers anywhere, eating up room on the streets," he said.
He gave the example of Jl. Bendungan Hilir in the vicinity of Jl. Sudirman. in Central Jakarta. "There are always lots of ojek drivers waiting for passengers there and it causes traffic jams."
Furthermore, he said, ojek do not assure the safety of passengers. "I think the most crucial thing is passenger safety. If an accident happened, who would take the responsibility?"
Most traffic accidents in Indonesia involve motorcycles. According to the Jakarta Statistics Agency, the death toll from traffic accidents in the capital stands at around 1,000 people a year, mostly aged between 22 and 40. Traffic accidents are the number three killer in Indonesia (after heart attacks and strokes) with some 30,000 deaths related to traffic accidents annually.
Ojek have become increasingly popular as a mode of transportation for Jakartans, as they can navigate between cars during traffic jams.
Jakarta resident Zulhayani, who takes ojek everywhere he goes, said that with the city's traffic conditions, taking motorcycles taxis saves a lot of time. "It's faster, more efficient and practical."
Zulhayani said she would not like to live in the city without them and that even though she owns a motorcycle, she prefers taking ojek. "It would be really troubling if ojek were not around. I don't mind that the government has legalized them," she said.
She noted that ojek charge less than taxis and can go faster. Meanwhile, she said that while public buses are the cheapest option, they usually take the longest time.
Darmaningtyas said the emergence of ojek as an alternative mode of public transportation could be blamed on the failure of the mass transportation system.
"Our system does not provide convenient door to door travel. A transport feeder should serve people coming off buses at the bus stop to their destination. This feeder should be in the form of non-motorized vehicles," he said.
He said pedicabs (becak) or bicycles, which travel no faster than 3 kilometers per hour, would be appropriate options. "However since becak were prohibited, ojek took their place," he said.
Transportation experts have criticized the lack of pedestrian facilities between Transjakarta shelters and residential areas. Such shortage makes Jakartans reluctant to walk from bus stops to their houses.
"Instead of making something wrong right by legalizing ojek, what should be done is to fix the public transportation system, including the feeder system, so that people's needs for door-to-door transportation are fulfilled," he said.