Lenny Tristia Tambun & SP/Fana FS Putra – A gubernatorial instruction asking Jakarta municipal officials to use public transit on Fridays was finalized by Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo on Thursday and came into effect today with mixed results.
Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who was seen on Friday arriving at his office by car, said that the instruction was meant to be just that, with no sanction for violators yet in place.
"Our governor wants to train people to use public transportation," Basuki said. "At least in a month, every Friday, Jakarta city officials should use public transportation. We are starting to promote the use of public transportation." Basuki said that it was too soon to say whether the policy would be effective in reducing congestion in the city.
"There is no punishment yet," he said. "We want to test this first... we want to at least make some people begin to use public buses and trains."
On Friday morning, many civil servants were seen arriving at work via public transit, and City Hall appeared empty of private cars and motorcycles.
Several top officials were seen arriving by bicycle, including acting Regional Secretary Wiryatmono, Deputy for Demography Syahrul Effendi, South Jakarta Mayor Syamsudin Noor and the Deputy for the Environment and Zoning Sarwo Handayani. Joko was also seen riding a bicycle from his official house in Menteng to City Hall.
HR Kristianto, the mayor of East Jakarta, arrived at work from his home in the Harapan Baru, Bekasi, via taxi. "It is cheaper," he told journalists. "Usually, just to buy fuel I spend Rp 200,000 [$16.4] every three days," he told journalists.
He said that he would gladly use other public transit, such as the TransJakarta system, if it passed near his home. "I wish I could use the TransJakarta, but it does not pass through [my neighborhood]," he said.
Krisdianto said that the policy was effective in reducing traffic, according to his initial observations.
"It was good – I saw it clearly in the field," he said. "Less congestion. I left my home for the office using a taxi and the traffic was smooth and it only took 30 to 45 minutes to reach the office."
The policy would lead to a significant reduction in Friday traffic, he said, based on his assumption that around 80 percent of civil servants owned private vehicles.
"This is a new policy and adjustments are needed," he said. "But sooner or later, they will have to all adjust. We will see what the sanctions can be. Those violators who do not abide by the regulation may possibly face administrative sanctions, such as reprimands or cuts in their allowances."
Old habits die hard
But at Krisianto's municipal office, many workers were seen arriving by private vehicles, mostly motorcycles. The security guards there were busy keeping motorcycles out of the compound, which was marked with a board that read: "Personal vehicles prohibited from entry."
Soleh, a city security guard, said city officials were easy to recognize on Fridays because they were required to wear traditional attire. "From Monday to Thursday it would be difficult to detect them, because many do not use name tags," he said.
An official from the city's manpower office said that it was difficult for him to forsake the use of his own vehicle because his job required him to visit many parts of the city on a given day.
"For employees like me who have to go into the field a lot, it is impractical to use public transportation, even more so [because the options are] limited," said the official, who declined to give his name.
A teacher arriving at the city's education office said he had never heard of the policy. "Willing or not, I will tomorrow abide by and adjust to the regulation," he said. "Aside from it being an instruction, this is also good for the smoothness of traffic."
Azas Tigor Nainggolan, chairman of the Jakarta City Transportation Council, said the policy was not aimed at reducing congestion but would instead function as leadership by example.
"If the city employees do not want to use public transportation, how can one expect the people to use it?" he said. Tigor said that the prohibition might grow gradually with the city adding more days per week, depending on the results of initial evaluations.
Basuki arrives by car
Basuki was seen leaving his house in Pluit, North Jakarta, by car at 7 a.m., according to Metro TV news, and he arrived at City Hall a half-hour later.
"I did sign the instruction, and it does not say [it applies] to the deputy governor," he said, according to news portal Detik.com. "If I take the bus or an ojek, with a bodyguard's car trailing behind, that's not efficient." He added that he did not live near any bus routes.
Joko said that the instruction was a gradual process that could not be perfected overnight. "Other countries need seven years to transform [the habit of driving] private vehicles to taking public transporation," he said.