Ulma Haryanto – It seems the city's crippling traffic can sometimes even lead the police to bend the rules.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman on Tuesday conceded his officers had occasionally diverted traffic through busway lanes, which were built specifically for TransJakarta buses, when gridlock became too much, suggesting that now was the time to take drastic measures like restricting vehicle ownership.

"We do use the lanes to divert traffic flow during severe congestion. We cannot completely clear it [of private vehicles] because it would just worsen the traffic jams," he said.

About a month ago, Sutarman slammed the busway system for monopolizing the roads and creating more traffic problems. He said the overall effect of the busway on traffic was negative because it usurped lanes on roads that were already clogged.

The police chief's latest comments come after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday set a deadline for the city administration, saying it should resolve its traffic woes by 2020.

Patterned after the TransMilenio bus rapid transit system in Bogota, Colombia, the TransJakarta busway was introduced in 2004 by then Governor Sutiyoso as part of efforts to ease congestion.

Sutarman seems to have softened his stance since his outburst last month, now instead focusing on curbing skyrocketing car ownership.

"Every household here should really have a limit on the number of vehicles they can own," he said. "This rule should not only be just for Jakarta, but also its satellite cities."

Police have said commuters in the capital are increasingly abandoning public transportation in favor of private vehicles.

"We are not against the busway," Sutarman said. "In fact, we are actually going to give a presentation to the governor on how to urge the public to use the busway more for travel and give up private vehicles. However, it is our view that people show a lack of enthusiasm when it comes to using public buses."

He said that aside from the fact there were not enough buses to adequately cover all the city's busway routes, which in turn increased the waiting times for passengers, the routes themselves did not connect to the areas where most people lived.

"This makes TransJakarta less popular," he said. "If people have to transfer numerous times just to get to the busway stop, they will obviously prefer to use their own vehicles."

The governors of Jakarta, West Java and Banten needed to work together to make this busway integration their top priority, he added.

Jakarta's Traffic Police Chief, Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa, meanwhile, said that despite having fined thousands of motorists since midway through last year for using the restricted busway lanes, there were times when officers on the ground just had to make exceptions to keep the traffic flowing.

"At severely congested points, such as at the intersection in Manggarai [South Jakarta], those caught using the busway lane are told to make a U-turn and use the regular lanes," he said.

"We are unable to stop and ticket them because doing so would just worsen traffic, so we just tell them to turn around as punishment."

Royke said the increasing use of private vehicles threatened to exacerbate traffic problems and could eventually render the city's widely panned public bus and train services obsolete.

A study conducted for the Greater Jakarta Urban Transportation Policy Integration Project has shown the number of people using public transportation in the capital has dropped significantly over the past decade.

In 2002, 38.3 percent of commuters used public transportation, the study found. By 2010, that figure had dropped to just 19.3 percent.

Royke said a total of 700 traffic choke points had been identified across the city, but only 400 could be managed by police officers on the ground. "The rest are regulated through community policing, if that," he added.

But Royke said officers would be strictly enforcing a new plan to restrict the times heavy vehicles such as trucks were allowed to use the roads to between certain hours.

The plan, which the city says will help ease congestion on major links, will come into force on April 1, although the times the restrictions will apply are yet to be determined.

Separately, a spate of recent accidents caused by speeding public buses and minivans has occurred despite police efforts to curb reckless driving. In some instances, officers have reported having to step in to rescue drivers and conductors from angry mobs accusing them of killing passengers and other motorists.

On Tuesday, a Kopaja bus hit a motorcycle in Depok, killing the rider instantly. That accident came a day after a woman died after falling from a Mayasari bus in East Jakarta. The woman reportedly had her hands full when the bus sped off as she was boarding.