The test removal of the 3-in-1 traffic rule, prompted by concerns over the regulation’s inefficiency and potential to promote child abuse, has started today. This morning was the first chance for drivers and officials to see how much lifting the rule would affect traffic.
Judging from news reports and social media reactions, the general verdict seems to be that traffic was significantly worse on 3-in-1 streets this morning, with reports that traffic around Sudirman and the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout was particularly gridlocked.
Traffic app Waze, which analyzes average traffic times based on user data, sent out an alert from its “Unusual Traffic Jakarta” Twitter feed indicating that people traveling on Jalan Sudirman could expect a 20 minute travel delay.
Kompas interviewed several ojek drivers this morning to get some anecdotal evidence of the 3-in-1 removal’s larger effects. One ojek said that traffic on side roads such as Bendungan Hilir, which people often use to avoid 3-in-1 roads, had less traffic than usual. Interviews with regular drivers also delivered mixed reviews, with some who don’t travel along 3-in-1 roads reporting that their commutes were not noticeably worse today.
Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said he was surprised to see how many cars with just one passenger he could see on the roads this morning. But he said he still believed the police would be able to handle it and that eliminating the 3-in-1 was still the right move.
“Really that is ideally already true. If the (3-in-1) victimizes children, we do not want it. We think that after these two weeks of evaluation, we will see,” Ahok told Kompas.
However, police have previously warned that removing the 3-in-1 system would increase traffic. We hope that the police are truly doing their best to regulate traffic during the test period, and not, as some have speculated, trying to make sure the test fails so that they can maintain a lucrative source of income.
The test will continue for the next two weeks so we’ll have to see how it goes. Let us know how the 3-in-1 removal affected your commute on our Facebook page.
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