Traffic Jams In 6 Big Cities In Indonesia Cause Losses Of IDR 71.4 Trillion, 2.2 Million Liters Of Fuel 'evaporates' Per Day

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Congestion has the impact of slowing down people's performance. Another impact arising from congestion and poor structuring of the public transportation system is economic losses of up to Rp71.4 trillion per year.

Head of the Jakarta Transportation Management Agency (BPTJ), Polana B Pramesti, traffic jams in six cities in Indonesia make a waste of fuel. This is based on a study conducted by the World Bank in 2019.

The six cities in question are Jabotabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi), Medan, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya and Makassar.

"Economic losses of Rp 71.4 trillion per year due to wasted fuel and lost time in 6 metropolitan cities," he said in a virtual discussion, Wednesday, April 28.

Especially in Jabodetabek, said Polana, there were very many moving private vehicles and few were using mass public transportation. So he said, it caused congestion and the public transportation system was not well organized.

Not only that, Polana said that congestion and a poorly organized public transportation system caused a waste of 2.2 million liters of fuel per day. In addition, people lose time due to being stuck in traffic. Where this time loss is experienced by at least 6 million people per hour in these 6 big cities.

Not to mention that this congestion also distorts environmental damage which is another disadvantage. To note, transportation is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector.

Therefore, the Ministry of Transportation is now preparing a Buy The Service (BTS) program so that this urban transportation system is more organized and increasingly lures people to switch to public transportation. This scheme allows the government to purchase services to public transport operators. This scheme will start in the city of Bogor as a pilot.

"The government provides a 100 percent subsidy for the operating costs of vehicles used to transport passengers. The reduction in private vehicles also reduces travel time, because the transportation schedule is also well-scheduled," he said.