Today is the first day of a two-week trial removal of Jakarta’s 3-in-1 traffic rule, and this morning’s results seemed to indicate that getting rid of the 3-in-1 leads to significantly more macet on Jakarta’s main streets.
So does that mean the 3-in-1 system is probably going to simply be reinstated at the end of the trial period? Well, the government has long said that eventually an electronic road pricing (ERP) system will take over for the 3-in-1 as the primary method for controlling traffic along Jakarta’s main streets. But experts say it will be take another 1.5 years (at least) to implement the system due to bureaucratic obstacles.
But rather than going back to the 3-in-1 system in the interim period before the ERP can be implemented, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has suggested that the city instead implement an odd-even system, by which only cars with license plates that end in odd or even numbers can use major roads on alternating days.
“We will still do the ERP, but if there are very bad traffic jams like on [Jl. Gatot Subroto], maybe we will add buses, then we will apply an odd-even system,” Ahok said today as quoted by Vivanews.
Ahok said the odd-even system had long been studied by the Jakarta administration, but plans to implement it were canceled after the government decided to move ahead with building the ERP.
Because the 3-in-1 system was causing children to be exploited by the “jockies” drivers used to driver on the major road, Ahok said he was reluctant to return to it and said the odd-even would be a better alternative while waiting for the ERP to be implemented.
The head of Jakarta’s Department of Transportation, Andri Yansyah, seems to be on the same page as Governor Ahok, saying the odd-even would be a good stop gap solution between ending the problematic 3-in-1 and the implementation of the ERP.
“The most effective medicine would be the ERP, but based on its schedule it’ll take 1.5 years to implement. So we should use the odd even system while moving forward on the ERP,” he told Republika.
Do you think an odd-even scheme could work in Jakarta? Would it be preferrable to the 3-in-1? Let us know what you think on our Facebook page.
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