Jakarta – The Jakarta administration's plan to revoke a regulation that prohibits motorcycles from entering Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta, one of the city's main thoroughfares, was counterproductive to easing congestion, a consumer observer has said.
Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi said that such a restriction was necessary to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads.
"Four-wheeled vehicles have been discouraged by a three-in-one policy, an odd-even plate policy, and by the Electronic Road Pricing Policy [ERP] later on. However, there has yet to be a policy that limits motorcyclists," Tulus said in a statement on Friday.
He added that Governor Anies Baswedan should focus more on limiting the use of private vehicles by, among other things, speeding up the implementation of the ERP policy.
Allowing motorcyclists to enter Jl. MH Thamrin, Tulus said, would encourage more motorcyclists to use private vehicles instead of using public transportation.
"The governor should make policies that empower public transportation. Allowing private vehicles to dominate means slowly killing public transportation," Tulus said.
As the newly elected governor, Anies plans to revoke the motorcycle ban policy, which has been in place since 2014, with the aim of creating equality among residents. He argued that the regulation was discriminatory and that all citizens should have equal access to public facilities. (fac)