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Jakarta Becomes the Best City for Transportation in the World

Jakarta Becomes the Best City for Transportation in the World

DKI Jakarta has won the 2021 Sustainable Transport Award (STA) for the integration program of public transportation modes that continues to be developed.

Winning the title as the best city for transportation in the world, Indonesia’s capital city beat dozens of cities, such as Auckland, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Charlotte, Frankfurt, Moscow, San Francisco, and Sao Paulo.

The announcement was made at the international transport conference, MOBILIZE 2020, which was held virtually on 26th, 28th, and 30th October. The Governor of DKI Jakarta Province, Anies Baswedan, expressed his pride in Jakarta and his commitment to continue to strive for a sustainable transportation system with the ultimate goal of the comfort of its citizens.

“I’m also proud of Jakarta’s achievement in increasing integrated transportation innovation. This is a reminder that we must continue to strive to improve existing transportation services so that citizens’ comfort in transportation is guaranteed,” said Anies.

With this achievement, Jakarta became the first city in Southeast Asia to win the STA award. Last year it was ranked second and received the title of “Honourable Mention”.

In the past year, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has said it had succeeded in presenting various innovations to improve the quality of transportation. This includes expanding pathways and adding bicycle facilities, revitalising bus stops and sidewalks, structuring pedestrian facilities in villages, and integrating various modes of public transportation.

“The rapid increase in the number of Jakarta public transportation users even reached a new record of one million daily TransJakarta passengers in February.

“This year’s pandemic has indeed forced us to adapt, with restrictions on public transportation capacity and strict health protocols. But positively, this pandemic has rapidly increased cyclists in the city,” continued Anies.

STA is an annual award event given to cities that have shown commitment, political will, and vision in the fields of sustainable transportation and urban development. The success of the capital city of Jakarta has been achieved through various sustainable efforts in the transportation sector as follows:

Angkot – Integrating a microbus (angkot) with Transjakarta services in which 10 microbus operators have agreed to join Transjakarta;
  1. Integrating a microbus (angkot) with Transjakarta services in which 10 microbus operators have agreed to join Transjakarta;
  2. Presenting the Jakarta MRT and Jakarta LRT last year, which was also a great momentum for the public transportation system in Jakarta;
  3. Integrating transportation services, both physical and payments. This is proven by the construction of Transjakarta stations and routes that are integrated with the Jakarta MRT, Jakarta LRT, and microbes;
  4. Arranging Jakarta Capital City’s public transportation areas with state-owned public transportation companies – KRL Commuter Line. It aims to become a transportation hub that provides convenience, security, and comfort for residents. Tanah Abang Station, Juanda Station, Sudirman Station, and Pasar Senen Station are part of the first stage;
  5. Developing a fleet of environmentally-friendly electric buses. This effort is carried out by Transjakarta and has been tested this year. Transjakarta also has a target of converting all of its fleets to electric buses by 2030;
  6. Change the function of the Kendal Tunnel to a pedestrian-only area that’s convenient for connecting KRL stations, Jakarta MRT stations, Airport Train stations, and Transjakarta stops. This facility was built as an effort to support the transportation integration program, while still considering the comfort of the residents;
  7. Continuous efforts to build a bicycle path, with 63km built to date. In the future, 500km of protected bicycle paths are planned. The effort to plan these bike paths paid off during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was a 10-fold increase in cyclists on Jakarta’s main roads. This was later strengthened by the implementation of pop-up bike lanes and Governor Regulation No. 51 of 2020, which instructs pedestrians and cyclists to be prioritised during the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB);
  8. Changing the function of the Thamrin 10 park and ride facility, which was previously a private vehicle parking area, into a creative economy business space. This is an effort to promote restrictions on private motorised vehicles in the city centre.

The STA Award ceremony will be held in January 2021 in Washington DC, United States. In the event, Jakarta will be awarded in an event entitled “Transport Research Board Annual Meeting”. As the city that won the STA, Jakarta will then automatically host MOBILIZE 2021, organised by ITDP and supported by Volvo Research and Education Foundations.

Source: Detik News

Image: Otomotif.kompas.com

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