How Effective Is The Policy Of ASN Mandatory To Take Public Transportation To Reduce Jakarta Traffic Jams?

DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung Wibowo when met in the Cideng area, Central Jakarta, Friday (2/5/2025). (ANTARA/Lifia Mawaddah Putri)

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung's policy of requiring State Civil Apparatus (ASN) to increase public transportation once a week received a positive response. However, this policy should be expanded so that efforts to reduce congestion and pollution in Jakarta are maximized.

Regulations requiring all ASN within the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov) to use public transportation are valid from April 30, 2025. This is regulated in the Instruction of the Governor of DKI Jakarta Number 6 of 2025.

The implementation of the policy was also confirmed by a spokesman for the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Chicko Hakim, who revealed that the regulation had been in effect since Pramono was signed.

"On April 23, 2025, the Governor has signed the Ingub regarding the use of mass public transportation for Jakarta Provincial Government employees," said Chicko.

Pramono said this policy is part of efforts to overcome congestion in Jakarta and improve the habit of using public transportation. He also said that the public transportation network in Jakarta had been integrated to 91 percent.

Meanwhile, the types of public transportation referred to in Ingub Number 6 of 2025 include Transjakarta, MRT, Jakarta and Jabodebek LRT, KRLCommuter Line, airport trains, buses and regular angkota, ferry boats, and vehicles to pick up employees.

In addition, ASN is also allowed to use other modes of transportation such as online motorcycle taxis if the final location is not reached.

Policy requires DKI Jakarta ASN to use public transportation is not the first time. The same thing was done when Jakarta was led by Joko Widodo in 2012.

At that time, Friday was chosen as a mandatory day for ASN to use public transportation, but this policy did not continue.

Then in 2017 under Governor Basuki Tjahaya Purnama alias Ahok, there were also efforts to reduce the use of private motorized vehicles and switch to using public transportation.

At that time there was a ban on motorbikes passing on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman and Jalan Thamrin. An alternative replacement is provided free buses from the Senayan Roundabout to Harmoni. But this policy also did not last long, because it was only in the form of an instruction from the governor, not a regional regulation.

This policy of banning motorbikes actually has a positive impact. The DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency in 2017 recorded a reduction in vehicle volume by 22.4 percent, increasing vehicle speed from 26.3 km/hour to 30.9 km/hour, and travel time increased by 15 percent.

Taking advantage of ASN by requiring the use of public transportation has also occurred in Palembang City, when the South Sumatra LRT was already operating in the era of Governor Alex Nurdin. But again there is no seriousness and coordination between the South Sumatra Provincial Government and the Palembang City Government so that this policy does not last long.

Whether the policy of using public transportation for ASN DKI Jakarta Provincial Government for once a week will be effective in reducing congestion in the Capital City is still a question for many parties.

The development of the Central Indonesian Transportation Society Region (MTI) Djoko Setijowarno responded positively to the steps taken by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government under Governor Pramono Anung. This, said Djoko, is in line with the push and pull strategy which is generally applied in big cities in the world.

Theush strategy is to limit the use of private vehicles, while the bulk is to increase the attractiveness of public transportation. The goal is to encourage people to switch from using private vehicles to public transportation.

However, Djoko assessed that this policy would not have a significant impact on congestion in Jakarta. Because those who are active in Jakarta are not only ASN in the DKI Provincial Government. As a city with a very large population and a large number of daily activities, Jakarta needs support from the central government.

"If only 65 thousand ASN DKI Jakarta Provincial Government uses public transportation every Wednesday, it will not change the rhythm of traffic congestion in Jakarta much," said Djoko in a statement received by VOI.

However, this policy is expected to have a greater impact in reducing the use of private vehicles and increasing the number of public transportation users if implemented by more institutions and ministries. Djoko also said that overcoming congestion in Jalarta cannot only the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government work alone, but it requires support from the central government.

"If it is applied consistently and expanded to ASN ministries and institutions, this will trigger a new culture. There is still a central government policy that can be implemented in the city of Jakarta to help reduce congestion and reduce air pollution," Djoko added.

Apart from that, there are obstacles in this policy. Currently, said Djoko, the coverage of public transportation services in the city of Jakarta has reached 90 percent. One of the indicators, every time you leave your house, not up to 500 meters, you can find public transportation.

However, people outside Jakarta and working in the capital city of this policy will experience problems between improving public transportation services not as massive as in Jakarta. Therefore, he encouraged the expansion of Transjabodetabek services to accommodate ASN living outside Jakarta.

"With the expansion of Transjabodetabek services to supporting areas in Jakarta, it will greatly help policy efforts to organize Jakarta transportation," concluded Djoko.