Indonesia's 5 Biggest Cities In Line For ERP Launch
Zaky Pawas & Camelia Pasandaran | June 24, 2011  Electronic road pricing gates in action in Singapore. Indonesia is now set to introduce it to five cities scheduled from later this year. The government has decided to impose an electronic road pricing system not only for Jakarta but also in four other key cities, as part of efforts to ease traffic congestion there.
"We will start with Medan, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Makassar," Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said at the presidential palace on Friday.
He said one of the regulations necessary for the implementation of the electronic road pricing system — government regulation No. 23 of 2011 on the management of traffic engineering — had been issued last week.
Freddy added that more regulations would follow and regional governments would have to come up with sub-regulations to implement the law.
"We expect it to be implemented soon, in this year," Freddy said without giving a date.
However, the head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, Udar Pristono, was less optimistic, saying that the system still needed a lot of preparation and could optimistically only begin to be implemented in 2012.
He said that time would be needed to prepare for the implementation of the ERP system as specialized equipment needed to be installed first.
"Cameras are key to the ERP. We still need to wait for the legal aspects and their provision and this still needs time," he said.
To execute the scheme, electronic toll gates have to be installed on each stretch of road where the ERP would be implemented. They would communicate with devices on the dashboard of passing cars, detecting the identity of motorists' accounts and then automatically deducting fees from them.
Udar said the ERP system would be applicable in streets where currently the 3-in-1 scheme is imposed and during the same peak periods — 7 to 10 a.m. and 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
He was referring to the system where vehicles have to have at least three people on board to be able to pass on selected main arteries during peak hours.
Officials have said that motorists would have to pay up to Rp 21,000 ($2.50) to pass through certain streets during rush hours.
Four firms have already expressed an interest in helping set up the system, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, which set up a similar system in Singapore and the electronic toll collection system in several Japanese cities; and IBM, which set up the London Congestion Charge and the Stockholm Congestion Tax in the British and Swedish capitals.
Udar aired optimism that the ERP would be able to reduce traffic congestion in the city with people thinking twice before using their private vehicles to go through the affected roads.
"They will certainly think twice before shelling out money to pay for this ERP," he said.
While awaiting the implementation of the ERP system, the Jakarta administration and the police are planning to soon begin the trial of a traffic restriction scheme based on vehicle registration numbers, with odd and even numbers alternated.
Udar said that although no date had yet been set for the start of the trial, it would be before the country hosts the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in November.
Editorial
ERP one part of traffic puzzle > A10 |
