JAKARTA - The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) assesses that the plan to increase the KRL Commuter Line transportation rate can encourage lazy culture to ride public transportation, especially KRL. This can increase the increase in the burden of air pollution in Jakarta.
Walhi Jakarta campaigner Muhammad Aminullah said the discourse would make people think again about using public transportation because the tariff was rising. Moreover, air pollution and traffic congestion in Jakarta are currently still problems that need to be resolved by the government.
"In fact, private vehicles are one of the biggest sources of pollution in Jakarta," Aminullah said in his statement, quoted from Antara, Monday, January 2.
The KRL ticket subsidy, he continued, is not only a matter of assistance for the community who can afford it or not, but is more of a support for users of public transportation because public transportation users have played a role in reducing accident rates, congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
He also suggested that the role of public transportation continue to be supported through public transportation user subsidies.
"Jakarta is fighting with congestion and air pollution, and users of public transportation have taken a role as part of Jakarta's recovery. The government should, especially the Ministry of Transportation supports it, not actually revoke its subsidies," he said.
Furthermore, he argues that rather than revoking KRL subsidies for high-income people, the government should revoke private electric vehicle subsidies.
According to him, the subsidy of electric vehicles can later be diverted to an increase in mass electric transportation.
Apart from not answering the issue of dependence on private vehicles, the subsidy of private electric vehicles will only increase the number of vehicles on the road.
"Until now, according to BPS data, the number of motorcycles and passenger cars in Jakarta has reached 20.66 million units," said Aminullah.
"The government should focus on efforts to release people's dependence on private vehicles. The KRL ticket subsidy is appropriate, it must be increased, it should be a subsidy for private electric vehicles that must be reconsidered," he said.
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