Dofa Fasila, Jakarta – Gooey, black oil. If just the thought disgusts you, the Jakarta administration might have found a way to make people respect road safety regulations.

The administration, frustrated by the failure to stop passengers getting off at Central Jakarta's Dukuh Atas train station from jumping queues and scrambling to get on crowded city buses, has taken to smearing wire rope barriers with oil.

City transport chief Udar Pristono on Friday said he hoped the new measure would stop people from breaking road safety rules.

"We want to stop people from bursting onto the road to catch their bus by jumping queues and the barrier itself," he said.

"Initially, we tried ropes. Then we changed to wire rope barriers and smeared them with black oil. This is specifically for all [unruly] train passengers who get off at the Dukuh Atas station on Jalan Sudirman."

"Mostly they get off at that train station and take city buses to proceed to their final destinations," he continued.

"We understand that most of them want to get to their workplace, so they will not want to get oil on their hands or clothing. It is impossible for them to show up at work in dirty clothes."

Udar explained that since commuters could not be kept in line by regular law enforcement methods, the oil-smeared wire ropes were just another option at the city's disposal to teach people about the importance of road safety.

"Should this fail as well and people still manage to jump over those barriers, we will find a way that will make those passengers feel sorry they broke road safety rules," Udar warned.

City parks chief Sunandar acknowledged he had worked with the transport chief on the project. "The function of the oil-smeared rope is simple – to get people to cross the road and get on buses in disciplined, orderly fashion," he said.