Jokowi Reminds Mayors To Prepare Mass Transportation To Overcome Congestion

President Jokowi/ANTARA/HO-dokuken Humas Sekretariat Daerah Pemerintah Kota Balikpapan)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) reminded the mayor to prepare mass public transportation to overcome congestion in line with developments in their respective cities.

"The mayor must prepare mass public transportation, if he doesn't think about it from now on, within 10 to 20 years, all cities will come to traffic jams," said President Jokowi in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 4.

"I remind you that mass public transportation must be prepared because a number of cities have experienced traffic jams," he said again.

This affirmation was conveyed by President Jokowi at the opening of the National Working Meeting (Rakernas) of the Association of Indonesian City Governments (APEKSI) to XVII in Balikpapan City.

If using mass transportation, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) or the Light Rail Transit (LRT), according to him, requires quite expensive costs.

The MRT in Jakarta was built first, costing around IDR 1.1 trillion per kilometer, and currently it has reached approximately IDR 2.3 trillion per kilometer.

As for the construction of the LRT with carriages that have been made at PT PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA), it costs Rp600 billion per kilometer.

"The fast train is cheaper when compared to the subway, which is IDR 780 billion per kilometer," he explained.

There is also public transportation. Mass called Autonomus Rapid Transit (ART) or an autonomous train without rails, he continued, but using magnets and ART it could be one to three cars, much cheaper.

It is hoped that if the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) is not able to communicate with the Minister of Transportation to build the mass public transportation mode.

"The budget for the construction of mass public transportation can be divided by 50 percent of the APBD and 50 percent of the State Budget (APBN)," Jokowi said.