Congestion in the city of Jakarta has caused traffic to virtually come to a standstill, thanks to the busway introduced about a year ago. For those of you unfamiliar with these streets, three lane thoroughfares were narrowed to two lanes to make way for a dedicated busway corridor.
Prior to that, traffic congestion was already terrible, yet there are politicians and bureaucrats who think that narrowing already congested roads to build a busway will solve traffic problems in the city. At last count, there are less than 100 buses plying the busway corridors throughout the city.
Which commuters did the city planners have in mind when they build the busway?
It didn't seem like they were aiming to serve commuters who relied on the normal dilapidated, carbon monoxide emitting public buses and mini buses which stop anywhere and at anytime they chose to pick up passerngers, irrepective of the inconvenience they cause to other road users. The same number of these buses and mini buses are still plying the same streets as those of the busway.
Or was the busway meant to reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads by providing a convenient and efficient means of public transportation for these people to go in and out of the city? If it was, then the results are certainly not apparent for the same number of private cars seem to be driven to work each day.
One would have thought that if a busway is constructed to link the main outer city suburbs to the city so as to encourage people not to drive their private cars into the city, there would have been plans to provide adequate and proper feeder services from these suburbs to the busway. One would also not be wrong to see a significant reduction in regular buses and mini buses on those roads which the busway operates. But its none of the above. Doesn't make sense right?
Efforts were indeed made to discourage people from driving private cars into the city through the introduction of a 3-in-1 system during peak hours. Private cars with less than 3 persons are not allowed to enter the main road linking north to south Jakarta during peak hours in the morning and evening. However, that only gave rise to a jockey service for the poor inhabitants of the city to provide their services at a small fee to drivers who don't have the requisite 3 persons. Men, women and children of all ages wait by side roads leading to the main road each day hoping to be picked up by drivers requiring jockeys to earn a meagre one US dollar (the equivalent of a pack of Marlboro there).
Conspiracy theories abound on the reasons for the busway, the majority of which pointed to the amounts of money the politicians and bureaucrats can siphon off from a project this size.
Any administration can make public policy blunders, and the problem of solving congestion is probably one of trial and error anywhere. In the more affluent and less corrupt countries, the risks of error is probably reduced through several thorough scientific evaluations prior to implementation, and possibly followed by pilot trial in certain districts before being introduced wholesale into the heart of commerce in the city. Public education programs over a period of time are normally a part of the overall effort to introduce a new transportation means. BUT, not in Jakarta.
The busway was introduced with no apparent clear objectives, private car owners are not given much of an alternative, and most Jakartans, except those sitting in government offices seem to have little clue as to the benefits the busway is expected to bring them.
After introduction of the first busway corridor, the city administration proceeded to build other corridors before any apparent attempts to garner feedback and evaluate these feedback from city dwellers. And now, they're even making plans to build an additional corridor cutting through a prime, low density residential estate complete with golf course, high end shopping mall and prestigious schools at the southern end of the city, or what some call the equivalent of "Beverly Hills" in Jakarta.
Prior to the busway, the city considered and started building an alternative monorail system. But disputes with their foreign partners and financiers put a halt to all work. Remnants of unsightly, half-finished pillars of the monorail dot some main streets in Jakarta now.
So how long more do Jakartans have to live with congestion and pollution before there can be any respite? Short of an efficient mass transit subway system, or a combination of proper city planning and relocating the central and city's government to an alternative administrative capital like Malaysia's Putrajaya (not the best example of success) or Australia's Canberra or Canada's Ottawa, Jakarta's traffic will most likely continue to haunt its residents for decades to come.
Saturday 29 September 2007
Saturday 8 September 2007
Toll road charges in Jakarta
Toll fees were raised recently along most toll roads in Jakarta. For those of you who are not familiar with this city, one has to get onto "toll" roads or expressways or freeways as you would call them in your part of the world in order to get to distant places within the city and its suburbs. If you are not used to paying to get into these toll roads, Jakarta will be an eye opener - unless you live in Singapore where an electronic road pricing scheme exists with much success.
The problem with toll roads in Jakarta is that they are not charging enough to ensure smooth traffic flow. Huge trucks and buses only pay a slight premium over other vehicles using the toll roads, but they hog up much more space (very often in the supposedly fast lanes) and go at a much slower pace.
Indonesians are fond of complaining. If the price of toll fees go up by X percent, they complain and they form masses to demonstrate in front of the authorities causing massive traffic jams which Al Gore would consider an adversary to his crusade on global warming. If only Indonesians can tell the difference between an extra thousand Rupiah spent (US 10 cents or so) on toll charges and the thousands of Rupiahs saved on fuel costs and productivity by spending less driving time.
Basically, there aren't enough roads in Jakarta to cater to the car and motorcycle population here. Policies such as the "busway" are of no help either. Plans are often ill-conceived and fail to look at the WHOLE traffic situation as a bundle of problems requiring solving.
The hours I, as well as the rest of people in Jakarta, spent in traffic jams could have increased productivity in this nation and hence create more wealth which will in turn be distributed to the poor and impoverished (corruption and siphoning of development funds aside).
I can see the dilemma facing the authorities. If they make toll fees so high to the extent people start avoiding them, all the arterial roads will be so clogged up that there will surely be a backlash from their electorates.
But instead of constructing busways which suck up already congested existing road space, they could perhaps look at other options. The latest news is that they're even thinking of creating a bicycle lane for those who choose to ride into work on their unmotorised two wheelers. Honestly, how many people will actually ride a bicycle to work in a polluted city like Jakarta? Are they trying to encourage Indonesians to emulate the Chinese where droves ride bicycles into their cities each day?
So what are the options?
To start with, they can start passing legislation to control irate bus drivers and commuters who choose to wave down buses from any spot they find convenient on the roads. Have proper bus stops so that buses are forced to stop in those areas to pick up their commuters. To do that, they will have to contend with two important issues: (1) properly educate the public into believing that a more disciplined system of getting onto buses will actually save ALL commuting times; (2) getting rid of corruption in the people assigned to police these rules.
On the educational aspect, officials from government departments embark on public service campaigns, be they in the form or print material, outdoor billboards or TV purely to enrich themselves. Look at bird flu and how much the authorities have done for such a deadly disease. Education cannot be achieved with one or two TV ads. It has to be a wholesome approach which must be sustained over several months or even years. Some may even last a whole generation in order for it to work.
The endemic and systemic corruption in this town leaves much in doubt. The police would rather stop a luxury Jaguar or Mercedes or BMW for apparently frivolous traffic violations than to stop a bus driver for a blatant traffic violation who has no more than ten thousand Rupiahs in his pocket. The Jag, Merc or Bimmer drivers will gladly part with tens of thousands of Rupiahs just so they can get on with their business and avoid the hassles and wasting valuable time arguing with the police for they can't win anyway. But for a bus driver, they won't part with 5,000 Rupiahs without a fight, literally.
The Muslim new year (Lebaran) is getting close. All my friends are warning me to be extra careful on the roads for this is the month when everyone, police included, will be out to make more money to buy new clothes for their kids and celebrate the new year with their families.
Most of my Indonesian friends have taken the situation with a "pasrah" mentality. So be it. This is the system we grew up with, this is the system we're used to. So why "rock the boat".
My answer to that is that if the boat is heading nowhere, it should be about time that we rock it and steer it into the right direction. No matter how long it takes to get where we should be, its better to start rocking now.
The problem with toll roads in Jakarta is that they are not charging enough to ensure smooth traffic flow. Huge trucks and buses only pay a slight premium over other vehicles using the toll roads, but they hog up much more space (very often in the supposedly fast lanes) and go at a much slower pace.
Indonesians are fond of complaining. If the price of toll fees go up by X percent, they complain and they form masses to demonstrate in front of the authorities causing massive traffic jams which Al Gore would consider an adversary to his crusade on global warming. If only Indonesians can tell the difference between an extra thousand Rupiah spent (US 10 cents or so) on toll charges and the thousands of Rupiahs saved on fuel costs and productivity by spending less driving time.
Basically, there aren't enough roads in Jakarta to cater to the car and motorcycle population here. Policies such as the "busway" are of no help either. Plans are often ill-conceived and fail to look at the WHOLE traffic situation as a bundle of problems requiring solving.
The hours I, as well as the rest of people in Jakarta, spent in traffic jams could have increased productivity in this nation and hence create more wealth which will in turn be distributed to the poor and impoverished (corruption and siphoning of development funds aside).
I can see the dilemma facing the authorities. If they make toll fees so high to the extent people start avoiding them, all the arterial roads will be so clogged up that there will surely be a backlash from their electorates.
But instead of constructing busways which suck up already congested existing road space, they could perhaps look at other options. The latest news is that they're even thinking of creating a bicycle lane for those who choose to ride into work on their unmotorised two wheelers. Honestly, how many people will actually ride a bicycle to work in a polluted city like Jakarta? Are they trying to encourage Indonesians to emulate the Chinese where droves ride bicycles into their cities each day?
So what are the options?
To start with, they can start passing legislation to control irate bus drivers and commuters who choose to wave down buses from any spot they find convenient on the roads. Have proper bus stops so that buses are forced to stop in those areas to pick up their commuters. To do that, they will have to contend with two important issues: (1) properly educate the public into believing that a more disciplined system of getting onto buses will actually save ALL commuting times; (2) getting rid of corruption in the people assigned to police these rules.
On the educational aspect, officials from government departments embark on public service campaigns, be they in the form or print material, outdoor billboards or TV purely to enrich themselves. Look at bird flu and how much the authorities have done for such a deadly disease. Education cannot be achieved with one or two TV ads. It has to be a wholesome approach which must be sustained over several months or even years. Some may even last a whole generation in order for it to work.
The endemic and systemic corruption in this town leaves much in doubt. The police would rather stop a luxury Jaguar or Mercedes or BMW for apparently frivolous traffic violations than to stop a bus driver for a blatant traffic violation who has no more than ten thousand Rupiahs in his pocket. The Jag, Merc or Bimmer drivers will gladly part with tens of thousands of Rupiahs just so they can get on with their business and avoid the hassles and wasting valuable time arguing with the police for they can't win anyway. But for a bus driver, they won't part with 5,000 Rupiahs without a fight, literally.
The Muslim new year (Lebaran) is getting close. All my friends are warning me to be extra careful on the roads for this is the month when everyone, police included, will be out to make more money to buy new clothes for their kids and celebrate the new year with their families.
Most of my Indonesian friends have taken the situation with a "pasrah" mentality. So be it. This is the system we grew up with, this is the system we're used to. So why "rock the boat".
My answer to that is that if the boat is heading nowhere, it should be about time that we rock it and steer it into the right direction. No matter how long it takes to get where we should be, its better to start rocking now.
Weekend before Puasa (fasting)
Each year the same thing happens - the weekend before the Muslim fasting month is see record crowds at clubs and discos countrywide. I can't remember when the authorities started imposing the ban on sales of alcoholic beverages and restricting opening hours of nightspots, but in the past several years, most nightlife will have to stop for a month or so during this fasting month preceding the Muslim new year, or Idul Fitri.
For the devout, this is a month of cleansing, spiritually. Except for hotels catering to foreign guests, all other entertainment outlets will have to either close, or restrict opening hours or forbid the sale of alcoholic beverages. Even restaurants who are licensed to serve alcohol serve them in coffee mugs or opaque glasses. Imagine drinking wine out of a polystyrene cup. Sounds like the experience I had in the UK and Canada where licensing rules are equally strict. But worry not! For there is always a place in town (normally Chinese restaurants) which would serve up your beer or cognac in a tea cup.
I hear its even stricter in Malaysia where the religious police actually checks out restaurants and pull out Malaysians whom they suspect as Muslims if they find them eating during fasting hours.
My friends are out there on a "binge drinking" stint. And it will go on till the wee hours of the morning. But imagine the dip in takings these clubs, discos and restaurants.
The biggest earners in entertainment outlets are food and beverages. A bottle of wine or spirits are normally marked up twice or thrice their retail prices. If every club, disco or restaurant have to factor in this one month's lost in revenue during the fasting period, we consumers will just end up having to pay for this loss in the form of higher prices. So instead of a plan which factors in 12 months of business, they all have to make do with 11 months, yet have to bear the operational costs of 12 months. Sounds silly to me.
Even if the government doesn't restrict opening hours and sales of alcohol, there are outlets who voluntarily impose their own restrictions for fear of reprisals from the religious vigilantes who arrive in groups and smash up everything in an outlet which does not respect the fasting month. They actually bother to spend on hiring trucks or buses and dressing themselves up in white when they conduct their raids. Even if the restaurant or club is located in a mainly expat area and the bulk of their customers are expats, they are not spared.
BUT, there is always a reason for them to be there, other than religious virtues. A business competitor or enemy who is not happy with the way the business is run can easily, with a few stacks of Rupiahs, summon the help of this religious brigade of vigilantes to destroy, create havoc, or otherwise disrupt their competitor's or enemy's business. It can be as trivial as a partnership dispute for the vigilantes to come with their baseball bats and sticks to cause severe damage and monetary loss to a business.
Sometimes I, as well as a lot of other Indonesians, wish that Suharto could still be in charge. At least there was law and order.
Besides the virtues of cleansing during this holy month, an argument goes where employers are supposed to take plight with and respect their employees who have to wake up at 3 in the morning to take their meal for that day before fasting from dawn till dusk. My Muslim friends tell me that fasting is Allah's and God's way to testing one's strength and faith. If that is the case and the virtue behind the idea of fasting, isn't it a greater test of one's strength and faith if one is subjected to adversity in having to go about one's daily lives during the rest of the 11 months? Why should activities here have to switch to fasting mode? Where lies the standards on the tests of strength and faith? Is one strong when one fasts by slowing down one's daily activities? Or is strength more manifest when one fasts in the face of continuing normal day to day activities? Is this pampering? Perhaps. But only the authorities who make the rules can answer to their own conscience.
Indonesia which is predominantly Muslim do not have the advantages which Malaysia, due to Malaysia's more varied ethnic mix. If the Muslims don't want to or can't work because of a religious holiday, the Indians and Chinese will be there to take over. Similarly, if its a Indian or Chinese holiday or festival, the others who don't celebrate the same will take over.
But if one were to venture downtown to Kota or Chinatown, the situation is somewhat different. There, life continues into the wee hours of the morning, be it a vice den, karaoke joint with Indonesian Muslim hostesses or strip tease bars. Kota in Jakarta is unique, especially during the fasting month. Perhaps the authorities consider Kota to be a den for vices of the Chineses who are not part of their mainstream electorate and are therefore allowed to morally descend into the deepest layers of hell!
But what about those employees who work in the Kota joints? They're just as happy cos when fasting month comes, everywhere else is closed except for their joints; which mean more tips, fatter bonuses and more opportunities. There you are! At least there are folks here who are entrepreneurial and adhere to the values of "fair rewards for fair effort". And, for that matter, the stockbrokers who have to monitor international markets with time differences? They're working till the wee hours of the Indonesian mornings too! Are their jobs considered decent to warrant a lack of sleep over the fasting month? Or are their jobs so important to the Indonesian economy that the authorities won't dare to venture into any form of restrictive regulations on their working hours?
Is this equality? Is this a true test of strength and faith? God probably knows.
For the devout, this is a month of cleansing, spiritually. Except for hotels catering to foreign guests, all other entertainment outlets will have to either close, or restrict opening hours or forbid the sale of alcoholic beverages. Even restaurants who are licensed to serve alcohol serve them in coffee mugs or opaque glasses. Imagine drinking wine out of a polystyrene cup. Sounds like the experience I had in the UK and Canada where licensing rules are equally strict. But worry not! For there is always a place in town (normally Chinese restaurants) which would serve up your beer or cognac in a tea cup.
I hear its even stricter in Malaysia where the religious police actually checks out restaurants and pull out Malaysians whom they suspect as Muslims if they find them eating during fasting hours.
My friends are out there on a "binge drinking" stint. And it will go on till the wee hours of the morning. But imagine the dip in takings these clubs, discos and restaurants.
The biggest earners in entertainment outlets are food and beverages. A bottle of wine or spirits are normally marked up twice or thrice their retail prices. If every club, disco or restaurant have to factor in this one month's lost in revenue during the fasting period, we consumers will just end up having to pay for this loss in the form of higher prices. So instead of a plan which factors in 12 months of business, they all have to make do with 11 months, yet have to bear the operational costs of 12 months. Sounds silly to me.
Even if the government doesn't restrict opening hours and sales of alcohol, there are outlets who voluntarily impose their own restrictions for fear of reprisals from the religious vigilantes who arrive in groups and smash up everything in an outlet which does not respect the fasting month. They actually bother to spend on hiring trucks or buses and dressing themselves up in white when they conduct their raids. Even if the restaurant or club is located in a mainly expat area and the bulk of their customers are expats, they are not spared.
BUT, there is always a reason for them to be there, other than religious virtues. A business competitor or enemy who is not happy with the way the business is run can easily, with a few stacks of Rupiahs, summon the help of this religious brigade of vigilantes to destroy, create havoc, or otherwise disrupt their competitor's or enemy's business. It can be as trivial as a partnership dispute for the vigilantes to come with their baseball bats and sticks to cause severe damage and monetary loss to a business.
Sometimes I, as well as a lot of other Indonesians, wish that Suharto could still be in charge. At least there was law and order.
Besides the virtues of cleansing during this holy month, an argument goes where employers are supposed to take plight with and respect their employees who have to wake up at 3 in the morning to take their meal for that day before fasting from dawn till dusk. My Muslim friends tell me that fasting is Allah's and God's way to testing one's strength and faith. If that is the case and the virtue behind the idea of fasting, isn't it a greater test of one's strength and faith if one is subjected to adversity in having to go about one's daily lives during the rest of the 11 months? Why should activities here have to switch to fasting mode? Where lies the standards on the tests of strength and faith? Is one strong when one fasts by slowing down one's daily activities? Or is strength more manifest when one fasts in the face of continuing normal day to day activities? Is this pampering? Perhaps. But only the authorities who make the rules can answer to their own conscience.
Indonesia which is predominantly Muslim do not have the advantages which Malaysia, due to Malaysia's more varied ethnic mix. If the Muslims don't want to or can't work because of a religious holiday, the Indians and Chinese will be there to take over. Similarly, if its a Indian or Chinese holiday or festival, the others who don't celebrate the same will take over.
But if one were to venture downtown to Kota or Chinatown, the situation is somewhat different. There, life continues into the wee hours of the morning, be it a vice den, karaoke joint with Indonesian Muslim hostesses or strip tease bars. Kota in Jakarta is unique, especially during the fasting month. Perhaps the authorities consider Kota to be a den for vices of the Chineses who are not part of their mainstream electorate and are therefore allowed to morally descend into the deepest layers of hell!
But what about those employees who work in the Kota joints? They're just as happy cos when fasting month comes, everywhere else is closed except for their joints; which mean more tips, fatter bonuses and more opportunities. There you are! At least there are folks here who are entrepreneurial and adhere to the values of "fair rewards for fair effort". And, for that matter, the stockbrokers who have to monitor international markets with time differences? They're working till the wee hours of the Indonesian mornings too! Are their jobs considered decent to warrant a lack of sleep over the fasting month? Or are their jobs so important to the Indonesian economy that the authorities won't dare to venture into any form of restrictive regulations on their working hours?
Is this equality? Is this a true test of strength and faith? God probably knows.
English Premier League & Astro pay TV
Its Super Sunday, and everyone is clamoring for best seats in front of their TVs. Yet many fans of the Premier League are disappointed for they do not have access to Astro.
Astro, compared to other pay TV networks in Indonesia, is the newest entrant. We don't even know if its entity is legal here, with the web of regulations and laws concerning foreign ownership of broadcasters. Yet they managed to secure exclusive rights to broadcast the Premier League games. Bravo Astro!
Football is becoming more and more elitist and is no more a commoner's game. Golf and tennis used to be called elitist as facilities for them are normally found in the best country clubs. However, due to the huge fan base, and possibly also the wagering community, football has become one of the most profitable sports in this part of the world.
Remember the World Cup of 2006? Complaints abound of how FIFA, through its quest for higher monetary rewards, have neglected the general public's love for the sport and their right to watch a world event which occurs only once in four years. Exclusive rights were granted to certain networks for handsome sums of sponsorship money hence, inevitably, depriving others.
But this is the world of economics. Without money, there will not be interesting football. Without money, clubs won't be able to buy good players who will captivate and keep fans, and thereby keep their cash registers going 'ka-ching, ka-ching...."
The EPL seems to understand this
Just signing broadcasting rights alone wil and is doing the right thing by negotiating collectively for income to broadcasting rights and splitting them equitably (or a bit more equitably) between all the clubs within the league. This will make the league more credible and watchable as more clubs become more balanced in terms of star players and goal scorers. One will remember the Formula One days of Michael Schumacher who dominated almost every race to the point where fans don't tune in anymore. It's boring. But with a revamp in the rules, Formula One became attractive again as the winners become less predictable. Perhaps the next time F1 has to do is to make the circuits more friendly to overtaking, for who wants to watch cars going at 300 kph around a track one behind another with no chance of a fight once you're in the back row of the grid after the first corner. And everyone waiting for a burst tire for someone else to take his position or for the safety car to come out at an opportune (or inappropriate moment for some) so as to gain track position strategically.
Coming back to the EPL. I still feel that the FA should open up the games to more people through granting of non-exclusive rights. Although this could result in less revenues on a per network basis, the FA and the networks could perhaps come up with a revenue sharing scheme whereby more than one network in one country will get to broadcast their games and the FA gets a share of their advertising revenues subject to certain minimum guaranteed sums, perhaps through a bidding system for each game.
Say, if networks pay certain sum for the right to broadcast EPL games upfront. Then they carry out a private bidding exercise for each game in the season so that networks won't be broadcasting the same games. And networks can base their biddings on the profile and spending power of their advertisers.
This is a more equitable system for all fans of EPL. Although the FA cannot guarantee its members of the league of certainty of income, the windfall which could result from the bidding exercises could more than compensate for that.
So here we go, fans of the EPL. Lets hope they will get their acts together to give us all back our rights to enjoy a commoner's game.
Astro, compared to other pay TV networks in Indonesia, is the newest entrant. We don't even know if its entity is legal here, with the web of regulations and laws concerning foreign ownership of broadcasters. Yet they managed to secure exclusive rights to broadcast the Premier League games. Bravo Astro!
Football is becoming more and more elitist and is no more a commoner's game. Golf and tennis used to be called elitist as facilities for them are normally found in the best country clubs. However, due to the huge fan base, and possibly also the wagering community, football has become one of the most profitable sports in this part of the world.
Remember the World Cup of 2006? Complaints abound of how FIFA, through its quest for higher monetary rewards, have neglected the general public's love for the sport and their right to watch a world event which occurs only once in four years. Exclusive rights were granted to certain networks for handsome sums of sponsorship money hence, inevitably, depriving others.
But this is the world of economics. Without money, there will not be interesting football. Without money, clubs won't be able to buy good players who will captivate and keep fans, and thereby keep their cash registers going 'ka-ching, ka-ching...."
The EPL seems to understand this
Just signing broadcasting rights alone wil and is doing the right thing by negotiating collectively for income to broadcasting rights and splitting them equitably (or a bit more equitably) between all the clubs within the league. This will make the league more credible and watchable as more clubs become more balanced in terms of star players and goal scorers. One will remember the Formula One days of Michael Schumacher who dominated almost every race to the point where fans don't tune in anymore. It's boring. But with a revamp in the rules, Formula One became attractive again as the winners become less predictable. Perhaps the next time F1 has to do is to make the circuits more friendly to overtaking, for who wants to watch cars going at 300 kph around a track one behind another with no chance of a fight once you're in the back row of the grid after the first corner. And everyone waiting for a burst tire for someone else to take his position or for the safety car to come out at an opportune (or inappropriate moment for some) so as to gain track position strategically.
Coming back to the EPL. I still feel that the FA should open up the games to more people through granting of non-exclusive rights. Although this could result in less revenues on a per network basis, the FA and the networks could perhaps come up with a revenue sharing scheme whereby more than one network in one country will get to broadcast their games and the FA gets a share of their advertising revenues subject to certain minimum guaranteed sums, perhaps through a bidding system for each game.
Say, if networks pay certain sum for the right to broadcast EPL games upfront. Then they carry out a private bidding exercise for each game in the season so that networks won't be broadcasting the same games. And networks can base their biddings on the profile and spending power of their advertisers.
This is a more equitable system for all fans of EPL. Although the FA cannot guarantee its members of the league of certainty of income, the windfall which could result from the bidding exercises could more than compensate for that.
So here we go, fans of the EPL. Lets hope they will get their acts together to give us all back our rights to enjoy a commoner's game.
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