Jun 27 2008
DTW…
I often get this question from family members, friends and colleagues - “How long does it take to get from point A to point B in Jakarta?” And my standard answer is - “It depends”. No one can give you a definite answer to the question without considering several variables. The traffic situation in Jakarta is worsening.
So, to gauge how long it takes to travel within Jakarta - you need to take into account Day, Time and Weather. In short, DTW. Simple, right? Ok, here goes..
DAY: DO NOT believe anyone who says it’ll take only a few minutes from point A to point B - IF there’s no macet (traffic jam). There WILL be macet during weekdays - Monday to Friday. It’s worse now because they’re constructing special bus lanes on major roads which they call bus-way. Therefore the space for private vehicles is being squeezed. The macet includes the toll road(expressway) from/to the airport. Here, they are widening and elevating the roads to prevent them from being submerged by flood water -like what happened a few months back.
The rule of thumb is to X2 the time quoted by the driver to take you to your destination during weekdays. You can breathe easier on Saturday and Sunday. BUT do remember that there’s a CAR FREE DAY every last Sunday of the month. The main road - Jalan Sudirman and Thamrin (it’s like Singapore’s Shenton Way) - will be closed to traffic from early morning till about 4 or 5pm. There’s a silly reason behind this initiative which I would rather not go into. My purpose in raising this point is that this CAR FREE DAY causes MACET on SUNDAY! Argh!!!
TIME: There’s hardly any time that Jakarta roads are not clogged with traffic. However the worst part of the day is 7.30am-10.30am and 4pm-8pm - on weekdays. And also lunch time between 12-2pm. If you’re in Jakarta for leisure, it’s better to remain indoors between 4pm-8pm. And if you’re in the capital for business, it’s best you keep to 2 appointments a day.
Avoid arriving in Jakarta between 5pm and 8pm. The 45 min journey from the airport to centre of Jakarta may stretch to 1.5hr to 2 hrs. So you see what I mean? There’s very little time when there’s no macet.
Oh yes…if you’re leaving for the airport between 6pm and 8pm, I suggest you give yourself an extra 15 mins on top of the 1 hour regular journey. That’s why I prefer to take the early morning flight - before 8am. Yes…get up at 5am! But I can get to the airport in 35 minutes…haha!
WEATHER: Rain means Macet. Heavy rain for 1 hour means flood. If it’s raining and you have a flight to catch, I suggest you turn on the radio or tv to check if the road to the airport is still passable. My personal best time to the airport is 3.5 hours. And the taxi I was in almost turned into a submarine. The wet season usually comes around in the early part of the year. But recently, high tides have also submerged the roads to/from the airport.
So remember DTW. Wait…one more to remember. Street demonstrations or Demo as they call it here. They cause macet on major roads when thousands of Indonesians take to the streets protesting against almost anything. They usually take place in front of the parliament house - which you have to pass if you’re heading towards the airport. Another favourite Demo location in the circle called Bunderen HI - in front of Plaza Indonesia. You may know in advance when the Demo will take place from online news portal such as detik.com.
Finally, if you stuck in Jakarta traffic, you will need lots of vitamin P — Patience.
I suppose as an outsider, such extreme traffic situations are perhaps only encountered during the duration of stay. There’s always a sense of achivement and relief whenever I make it to the airport on time.
Too bad I didn’t witness any demos while I was there. I sometimes wonder how the local TV news BJs manage to file their stories in time…do they?
Traffic exists almosts everywhere. The reason is because we don’t all drive the same exact speed, we don’t all have the exact amount of patience, and we don’t all have the same exact reaction times. The slow reaction time means people brake more than they should have to. The build-up is like water turning to ice. Smooth traffic moves freely like water. When water freezes and turns to ice, it requires more energy, in the form of heat, to melt back into water which in turn takes more time and work to get gridlock going again.
What if there is another alternative mode of transportation anti “macet” that does not compromise space. My ideal solution to solve macet - teleportation. As with all new technologies, one needs to intensify the research of the idea. We still need to study deeper into this teleportation. Possibly, in the not so distant future, our next generation may be working in an office on another planet out there with the distance of thousands million light years from the earth. Clearly, once it becomes a reality, i’m sure Jakarta will be “macet” free.
what an irony! Those busways and eleVATED roads are supposedly to ease the traffic congestions but they’re causing bigger macet!! Its not so much about making new roads but rather educating and enforcing laws on the road users and the city planners. Road users here don’t have road ethics at all and some ambicious projects abandoned causing more macet than ever. Alternative transportation? Maybe somewhere else….. or maybe when THOSE people are serious about making this city at least a “drivable” one. Again, its not about speed or reaction time here, its about attitude.
And you need Vitamin S too if you’re not a driver like me - SLEEP heh. When I was in Surabaya recently, it was one looong ride after another, not that i’m complaining. I love what I got to see on my trips, I love the humility and friendliness not to mention the hardworking nature of the Indonesians (especially the villagers/farmers). And yes, my family and I encountered almost zilch corruption (except for 1 tiny incident late in the night on our way back to the resort..by of all professions, a policeman with a huge family to feed) I could go on and on,but yah, I believe Indonesia will continue to have a bright future, Insyallah.
i have been here in Singapore for 8 months, and i what you felt. Always macet everywhere in Jakarta. i hope the governor will speed up the monorail Project. i think it’s more effective to solve the macet problem in Jakarta rather than the busway.
oh, btw..those reporters in jakarta will use every transportation to get in scene in time by using “motorcycle taxi” alias “ojek”. And the ojek will know how to get through to the destination by findings a housing street or alley.