Anies Creates Special Road Bike Lane, PDIP: Better Prioritize Ojol

ILLUSTRATION/BETWEEN

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta DPRD PDIP faction member Gilbert Simanjuntak considers DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan's plan to provide special lanes for road bikes to be excessive.

Because, according to him, bicycle users are no more than 0.1 percent of the community. After all, Gilbert said cyclists don't pay vehicle taxes. However, they were given a red carpet by providing a special lane on Jalan Sudirman-Thamrin.

"The red carpet policy for road bike enthusiasts is to hurt people's feelings. These are all policies without study," Gilbert told reporters on Friday, June 4.

According to Gilbert, Anies must be aware that the use of bicycles as a means of transportation in a city can only work if traffic conditions are not often jammed, and public transportation is in good condition.

Moreover, he said, Anies should pay more attention to the existence of online motorcycle taxis. Because, their number is more than bicycle users. Also, there is an economic interest from online motorcycle taxi activities.

"It is better to prioritize online motorcycle taxis over bicycles. Currently, online motorcycle taxis are the backbone of goods delivery and human mobility in Jakarta. They are the ones who support the DKI economy during the pandemic with all the risks," said Gilbert.

"It should be ojol or health workers who are facilitated by special lanes, not bicycles. Both in terms of numbers, the interests of the community and the safety of drivers and passengers," added Gilbert.

Previously, the Head of the DKI Transportation Agency, Syafrin Liputo, said that his party was finalizing the regulations regarding the plan to provide road bike lanes on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman to MH Thamrin.

Later, the racing cyclists will get a special lane every Monday to Friday morning, starting at 05.30 WIB to 06.30 WIB.

Syafrin explained the reason why his party opened the road bike lane on weekday mornings. According to him, the traffic volume at 05.00 to 06.30 WIB in Sudirman-Thamrin is still not too congested.

"Sudirman-Thamrin was given space because the activity for bicycles as a means of mobility in the morning at dawn is relatively lacking. Then, traffic from 5.00 to 6.30 WIB is still relatively low," said Syafrin.

Syafrin said, this lane is specifically used for racing cyclists (road bikes). Other cyclists are not allowed to cross and can only pass through the permanent bicycle lane on the left side of the road. "Non-road bikes follow the existing permanent bike paths," he said.