Regarding The Proposal For Arranging Office Entry Hours To Unravel Jakarta Congestion, Observer: City Planning Must Be Reorganized

The atmosphere of Jalan MT Haryono, Pancoran, Jakarta, in May 2020. (Antara/Rifki N)

JAKARTA - The Executive Director of the Center for Urban Studies, Nirwono Joga, responded to the Jakarta Metro Police's proposal regarding the regulation of workers' departure hours to ease congestion in Jakarta.

According to Nirwono, the most important thing to do in order to reduce the level of congestion in Jakarta is to rearrange Jakarta's urban planning, starting from integrated transportation areas to the range of residential areas.

"The city planning of Jakarta and its surroundings must be reorganized, focusing on developing integrated areas, affordable housing around public transportation nodes. Residents only need to walk 5 feet to the nearest station, bus stop, or terminal," said Nirwono to reporters. , Friday, August 12.

Then, continued Nirwono, it is also necessary to rejuvenate the existing area around the node points of public transportation, add bicycle parking locations, and expand the revitalization of sidewalks.

"The DKI Regional Government must also encourage its citizens to switch to public transportation in their daily activities. However, this must also be supported by a public transportation fleet that is safe, comfortable, cheap, and affordable," said Nirwono.

Meanwhile, regarding the setting of working hours, Nirwono gave an example of the difference in time to work in the morning and afternoon.

"Korlantas, Dishub, and Disdik can set school hours in the morning and afternoon, for example at 7:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:00 WIB, to reduce the density of departure times in the morning, as well as adjust the hours of entering the office at 8:00 to 15:00 and 10:00 to 17:00 WIB. or implement a work from home system," he explained.

Previously, the Director of Traffic of the Polda Metro Jaya, Kombes Latif Usman, suggested that the departure time of workers be regulated so that there would be no piling up during peak hours. Latif admitted that this proposal was based on his analysis of Jakarta's traffic jams.

From his observations, the proposal arose because congestion had a major impact, even causing state losses that reached tens of billions per year.

"With road congestion there is a state loss per year of around Rp. 71 trillion, this is not just Jakarta, this is all of Indonesia," said Latif on Thursday, July 21.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria admitted that his party would consider the proposal for setting the office hours.

"I think that input will get the attention of friends. We will consider the input later. We will see to what extent the congestion is caused by the same working hours," said Riza.