The Risks of Permitting Driving on Urban Toll Road Shoulders

KatadataOTO – To overcome traffic congestion, especially on the Inner City Toll Road, the Metro Jaya Regional Police Traffic Directorate has finally implemented a new policy. One of these is allowing drivers to use the road shoulder, starting from Semanggi (Km 7) to the Cawang Interchange.

This policy is in effect from Monday, February 24 to Friday, February 28, 2025, specifically from 18:00-20:00 WIB. Drivers still need to prioritize emergency vehicles that will use the toll road shoulder, such as ambulances, fire trucks, officer patrols, and VVIP convoys.

However, the policy of allowing the public to use the road shoulder has its own risks. Especially with the public's habit of violating traffic rules, which leads to many accidents.

“There are factors that must be considered, such as the public's habit of being difficult to regulate. This kind of engineering has the potential to make road users accustomed to using the shoulder even when it is not the designated time,” said Sony Susmana, Training Director of Safety Defensive Consultant Indonesia, to Katadata (26/02).

Photo : KatadataOTO

This situation is certainly considered very dangerous in the long run. Therefore, the police must be firm in carrying out supervision in the future.

“But from the police's perspective, it is indeed allowed because they have discretionary rights with the consideration that it can reduce congestion. As long as the supervision is strict and the duration is clear, it should not be a problem,” he then added.

He is actually doubtful that the implementation of this rule can solve the congestion problem. This is because the number of vehicles in the Capital City is already too high compared to other regions.

“Congestion is a risk for car owners. So there is no need to create traffic engineering that has the potential to damage the traffic culture,” he asserted.

Photo : Trenoto

It should be noted that the DKI government has been trying to implement various traffic engineering schemes to reduce traffic density. Starting from the odd-even policy in Jakarta to contraflow at certain hours.

However, these scenarios are still considered less effective in reducing the density that often occurs during rush hours. Allowing toll road users to use the shoulder is expected to speed up the flow of vehicles compared to usual.