Traffic in HCMC still better than in Jakarta: Indonesian consul

Tuoitrenews

Updated : 03/24/2014 14:32 GMT + 7 

 The Indonesian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City has said that the city’s traffic situation  may be complicated, with bus drivers driving recklessly, but it still fares better than that of the capital of Indonesia, which has even more motorbikes and buses than Vietnam.

 Indonesian Cosul General in Ho Chi Minh city

Tri Surya, the Indonesian Consul General in HCMC, who has been living in HCMC for over one year, said that although the Vietnamese metropolis is plagued with traffic congestion, drivers usually still arrive at their destinations roughly on time.

Meanwhile, during rush hour in Jakarta, one is never sure when they will reach their destination, Surya stressed.

In Jakarta, which has the population of some 11 million but has yet to have a high-end metro system as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia do, the number of individual vehicles rose by 11 percent in 2013 while road expansion lags far behind at a mere 0.01 percent.

The capital city now has more than 38 million individual vehicles, including over 26.1 million bikes and 6.1 million cars.

172km express bus system

According to Surya, the Jakarta government has been making tremendous efforts to curb traffic jams by allowing only cars carrying two or more passengers to drive during peak hours. This law is enforced with a fine for those who do not follow it.

The situation only improved considerably when an express bus service called Trans Jakarta, the first of its kind in Southeast Asian and South Asian regions, was launched in 2004.

The bus system, which measures some 172km in total length, is possibly the longest in the world.

Running on 12 routes, the system carries some 310,000 passengers a day.

Even during rush hour, when streets are seriously congested, the bus still travels comfortably in its own lane.

The bus lane is higher than the normal road surface and has high edges, which keeps drivers of other vehicles from entering it, thus avoiding incidents involving the buses and other vehicles

The Trans Jakarta bus stops are built some 60-80 cm higher than the average road surface and the doors of the bus are adjusted to allow passengers to get on and off without any trouble.

Lift time limits; smaller buses recommended

Surya also noted that as conventional bus drivers in Jakarta are not under time pressure, they are not involved in many accidents.

“Since HCMC and Hanoi have narrow, crowded streets, the local governments should consider using small-sized buses with less than 30 seats,” the consul suggested.

Such buses would be considerably easier to maneuver on packed streets and minimize traffic congestion and accidents, he said.

In addition, bus companies should not apply time limits on their drivers to relieve them of pressure and allow them to drive more carefully, the diplomat noted.