Name: Farah Salsabila / 1506721213

Business Administration (Paralel)

Why private transport in Jakarta is uncontrollable?

Jakarta is one of the cities that have problem with traffic congestion. The main problem of

traffic congestion is because of huge amount of private transport that is not in accordance

with the road capacity. Therefore, the government get discomposure to handle it and is

incapable of making strict regulation in time, so the citizens think that buying a car or

motorcycle is alright and do not mind the side effects afterwards. Specifically, researches say

the reasons behind a huge amount of private transport in Jakarta are prestige, inconvenience

of public transport and the absence of private transport regulation.

Most people in Jakarta buy their own vehicle because of the prestige. For them, buying a

dream car or motorcycle is one of their goals after they accumulate their savings from several

years. After they get the vehicle they have been dreaming of, they normally feel like they are

on top of the world. In other words, every person usually rewards themselves after working

or studying hard on something that they can show off to other people. In addition, high-priced

vehicle is usually considered as the reflection of the user’s position. For example, a director

of company mostly has BMW, Marcedez-Benz, Toyota Alphard or other similar types. It is

just because the stereotype in the society is that what they use and wear reflects the economic

or social position. For example, if you were born in a rich family, you will not use cheap

products or fakes because it will degrade your family’s level in society. From that, we can see

that the higher your position is equal to your high prestige too.

Inconvenience of public transport also affects people’s preference to private transport. Public

transports have several problems. First, the time of arrival. Every worker thinks that “Time is

Money”, so they will not waste their time just waiting. Second, the drivers who drive their

Metro Mini, Kopaja, and Koantas Bima do not pay attention on the safety of the passenger as

well as the people on the street by driving above the speed limit. Third, the total amount of

public transportation modes. It causes some people think twice and worry if they are not able

to get the transport on time and late to come to their destination. Forth, there is no efficiency

in public transportation system. The public transportation is not yet reachable everywhere

hence making people spend more time to reach the stations because the public transportation

just transits in few stations, while the people in Jakarta are unlikely to walk for long distance.

A policy that regulates and controls the amount private cars and motorcycles in Indonesia has

not been created, especially in Jakarta. Nevertheless, in Singapore regulation about private

transport is so strict. The Singaporean government limits the amount of private vehicles,

especially cars, by having a policy where the private car users have to pay to get permission

paper for quiet a lot of money, besides paying for the car’s price itself. Thus, the citizens

should pay twice in different content. Other than that, the government limits the period of

using within 5 until 10 years in purpose to change the users periodically.

As has been noted, the growth of private transports in Jakarta such as car and motorcycle will

increase yearly. Therefore, it will be a serious problem if the government does not develop

their facilities in public transportation, make the policy about restriction of amount user’s

private transport in Jakarta, or just make innovative program or system to decrease people’s

preferences in private transports.