Can green transportation be implemented in urban Indonesia?

Tharra Ayuriany (25418022)

Indonesia is one of developing countries in the world and fourth most populated in the world.
As Indonesia grows, rapid urban growth happens. Cities in Indonesia are growing rapidly and
also experiencing a rapid growth in transport-related problems, such as congestion, pollution,
accidents, and lack of accessibility. Indonesia has experienced drastic rise of automobiles in
past decades. Automobiles as personal transportation generate problems such as congestions,
pollution, and vehicle collision. The concerns about environment and health are also
increasing. The externalities from this phenomena cause inefficiency as the level of
congestions and pollution in urban Indonesia are increasing. Green transportation or
sustainable transportation concept could be the way to overcome these problems. The idea of
green transportation is that people mobilize around the city or urban without depending on
vehicles, which produce emission gasses, that pollutes the city. Green transportation
alternatives should encourage less use of personal transportations with choices of safer, less
costly, healthier, and more environmental-friendly transportation services. Green
transportation concept has implemented in cities in developing countries around the world.

Green transportation can be implemented in urban Indonesia by integrate it with places,

mobilization, and activities around the area. So far, in most urban in Indonesia, public
transportation services performance can be considered as low. Low public transportation
infrastructure performance and capacity makes people prefer their personal automobiles even
though they already encouraged using public transportation.

For many years, we can see that in urban Indonesia, the Government’s attempt to reduce
congestion is by increasing the size and number of roads. This approach prove to be
ineffective as it only increase the demands in vehicles and only deny the inevitable that the
congestion will be back and sprawling to another spots. Increase road pricing and lowering
subsidies for gasoline theoretically should decrease the demand of personal transportation.
The decrease happens, as the cost of trip is bigger than the willingness to pay to achieve
equilibrium and rationalize demand with supply, which previously exceeds it. But every year,
more people buy cars or motorcycles for everyday activities. Having personal transportation
modes sounds more appealing than using public transportation. Therefore, before begin the
development in green transportation; Government must create a policy to limit the use of
personal transportation along side developing green transportation. Government also has to
develop a plan in urban land use so that the transportation system can integrate well with
important places that people usually mobilize to. Centralize urban area encourages less use of
long road and people using their personal transportation and replace it with public
transportation, walking, or cycling to get to their work place or leisure place.

Rail-based public transport is commonly implemented public transportation system in

developed and developing countries. In Jakarta, Light Rapid Transit (LRT) and Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT) are nearing its completion and Bus Rapid Transit or Transjakarta is also
starting to replace small capacity public transport like angkot or mikrolet and non-integrated
bus transportation service with its punctuality, safety, comfort, and accessibility. LRT and
MRT service is the start of more advance green transportation development in Jakarta and
hopefully to another urban areas in Indonesia in the future. Commuter line was sole rail-based
public transport in Jakarta for decades and with development of these new rail-based transport
system will expand the accessibility of public transport. LRT will bring people living in
suburban area around Jakarta to city center and MRT will bring people around Jakarta.

Transit-Oriented Development is also on the planning process to integrate these transportation

modes with land use. Pedestrian way is also improved to encourage people to walk instead of
using personal transportation by giving them choice between spend extra daily cost for
transportation and struggling with traffic rather than punctuality and less stress with
integrated transportation and safe pedestrian. DKI Jakarta Government also holds a routine
music show in pedestrian area near transit as entertainment to pedestrian walker in hope to
change the minds of people who still using their vehicles to move.

Looking at what Jakarta is doing right now to promote green transportation, it is not
impossible to see the implementation in other urban areas in Indonesia. The problems that
other places have are almost similar to Jakarta, the lack of comfortable and safe pedestrian
way and low performance public transport. Like Jakarta before Transjakarta, the only
transportation modes that people can choose are bus and angkot. These modes are known for
being unsafe to passengers and road users but they have no other choice. Or they can use their
personal transportation and externalities in road usage become unbearable as personal
transportation users struggling with traffic congestion against each other and small capacity
public transportation that are so many. If the local Government want to invest in developing
other and better transportation modes and comfortable pedestrian, I think people would want
to walk rather than sitting in their car and stressing over traffic.

Source:

Newurbanism.org. (2019). Green Transportation. [online] Available at:

http://www.newurbanism.org/transport.html

O'Sullivan, A. (2019). Urban economics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Pojani, D. and Stead, D. (2015). Sustainable Urban Transport in the Developing World:
Beyond Megacities. Sustainability, 7(6), pp.7784-7805.

Sultan, Z., H. Tini, N. and Moeinaddini, M. (2016). Exploring the Implementation and
Success of Green Urban Mobility in Asian Cities. Planning Malaysia Journal, 14(4).