Jakarta can be a stressful place to live in, especially with how bad traffic can be. I don’t need to pull stats to say that Jakarta has one of the worst traffic in the world.
Having lived in Osaka for almost 3 years, there is this one thing that I wish Jakarta would learn so that hopefully one day will be a more convenient place for people to live in: build a railway network.….and build it along the toll road
Since the early 2000s, Jakarta decided to build the bus network with TransJakarta which is more flexible and cheaper as they can use the existing road and with that, faster to be in operation as well. The bus is supposed to have a dedicated line making it traffic-free, but….well, cars and motorcycles still get into the line anyway and so the buses are also stuck with traffic. It gives access to people, but is it effective? Well, not really.
The railway network is indeed more expensive, but it is undeniably more efficient. See what happened with the Bundaran HI — Lebak Bulus MRT. It’s so lovely. An actual dedicated line guarantees fewer issues with traffic, allowing for more frequent headways and trains can take more people at once.
Now let’s switch our focus to Osaka. As the train network has been developed since the early 1900s, we can basically go anywhere by train as you can see on the following map. But let’s take a closer look at the Midosuji Subway Line marked in red.
Midosuji Subway is arguably the backbone of Osaka’s public transit cutting through the city center. It’s the first subway built in Osaka back in the 1930s connecting Umeda and Shinsaibashi, two business centers and tourism destinations. Interestingly, even though it’s subway by status, about 1/3 of the line between Senri-Chuo Station and Nakatsu Station is actually above the ground and runs in the middle of a toll road.
Every time I ride this subway line (which is quite often), I can’t help to think that it’s such a beautiful demonstration of how public interest, represented here by the subway, is of a higher priority compared to the individual interest which is represented by cars.
When traffic happens on the toll road, the subway is also still running back and forth undisturbed, almost like saying “Haha look at you, stuck in the traffic. Wanna go faster? Then take the subway”
Imagine. Just imagine. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an MRT kind of train system running in the middle of the JORR toll road from Lebak Bulus to Kp Rambutan & TMII? Or all the way in the middle of Tol Dalam Kota connecting Halim Airport to Grogol and eventually Soetta Airport?
I’m not in any way a public transit expert and I understand that acquiring the lanes from the toll road companies can cost a fortune, not to mention the development of the network in itself. Yet, if the government copies Midosuji Subway Line, it will be a true statement that they actually do care and are willing to solve the traffic issue.
I believe that people want to shift to public transit. Look at how crowded Transjakarta is during peak hours. If only it’s reliable enough, enabling them to go to where they want, and also affordable, there may be even more people shifting.
After all, public transit shouldn’t be developed to make profits. It is there to serve the needs of the public.
Once the facility is there, there may well be less traffic, making Jakarta a less stressful place to live. It takes commitment, which hopefully exists. Hopefully.
