Uncontrolled Vehicle Growth Is the Root Cause of Jakarta's Traffic Jams

KatadataOTO – Traffic congestion continues to occur on the streets of DKI Jakarta. Especially during busy hours such as when people go to the office or school.

Vehicle queues are often found in a number of locations. Take for example the TB Simatupang road section, from Fatmawati to Tanjung Priok.

Of course, this condition is quite disruptive for the public. Because some of their activities are hampered.

The DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency (Dishub) has revealed the main cause of the frequent traffic congestion in their area. One of them is the massive growth of vehicles.

Photo : KatadataOTO

“Based on data, the number of vehicles in Jakarta increases by around 2,500 to 3,000 units every day,” said Syafrin Liputo, Head of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency, on the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's YouTube channel, Friday (22/08).

According to Syafrin, the vehicle growth rate is not proportional to the number of roads in the Capital City.

This often causes traffic flow to be choked. Consequently, Jakarta's traffic jams worsen over time.

“If we calculate it, this increase is equivalent to adding approximately 16 km of road length in Jakarta,” Syafrin continued.

Syafrin further stated that road widening, underpass construction, and flyovers are not necessarily able to significantly increase road capacity.

With the various efforts above, the addition of roads in Jakarta is only about 0.001 percent. So it is still far from ideal.

“This means it is very little compared to the need. This is what then causes the complexity of Jakarta's transportation problems to be so extraordinary,” Syafrin emphasized.

On the other hand, the traffic conditions that have not improved are considered to have contributed to Jakarta's traffic jams recently.