The Traffic Congestion

The traffic congestion in the city gets even worse day by day. One of the Indonesian problems which still cannot be addressed yet is traffic. Indonesian people, especially for those who live in the big city such as Jakarta and Surabaya, experienced traffic congestion almost every day. According to Wikipedia (2012), “Kemacetan adalah situasi atau keadaan tersendatnya atau bahkan terhentinya lalu lintas yang disebabkan oleh banyaknya jumlah kendaraan melebihi kapasitas jalan”. From the statement above, the writer assumed that traffic jam is a situation when car, motorcycle, bus, truck, and other transportations vehicle cannot walk in their normal speed because of road situation. Traffic jams or traffic congestion in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta, arises from three basic causes: road traffic factors, vehicle factors, and human factors.

One of the causes that makes Jakarta’s traffic jam so complex is the unequal increase rate of street width and the increasing of vehicle significantly on the private vehicle. Nowadays, Jakarta is crowded by vehicle. Indonesia Transportation Department (2011) released, “The amount of total vehicle in Jakarta are about 4,9 million. It is estimated will increase around 11% per years”. Moreover, in the same year, they said, “The capacity of Jakarta to add the length and width of the street is less than 0,001 percent per year; meanwhile, the increase of automobile is about 10% per years”. From the data above, the writer concludes that the street in Jakarta cannot accommodate the increase of the vehicle per year.

Another cause that makes Jakarta has a complex traffic jam is because of the vehicle factors. Vehicle factors are all factors derived from the condition of passing vehicles on the highway. Those factors can be about type, size, quantity, and quality of vehicles which pass the highway. For example, the amounts of vehicles that pass the highway are enormously much, so highway capacity is insufficient. Of course this problem can lead into a congestion problem; moreover, the using of private cars in Jakarta is still very inefficient. The writer sometimes finds out the true fact that one car only contains one person. The logic is one car should contain three persons in minimum amount. This is based on the regulation of Pemprov DKI Jakarta which stated that there should be three people or more in one car to reduce the traffic jam. That is one of the solutions which can decrease the problem of traffic congestion in Jakarta, but in the reality lots of the car owner use jockey to avoid the regulation of three in one.

A third reason which contributes in traffic congestion is about human factors. Human factors are all factors related to human as road users. Various things related to road users, such as attitudes, behaviors, and habits that are less precise when using the highways often causes traffic jams or even accidents. For example, the user who has bad attitudes, selfish behavior, and arrogant on the road can cause traffic situation becomes obstructed. Besides, their bad attitudes can also lead into accidents which can exacerbate the traffic jams.

These three causes of traffic jams lead some negative effects for Indonesian, especially for them who live in a big city such as Jakarta and Surabaya; moreover, the effects of this problem are being felt in some sectors, such as energy wastage, time wastage, and health problem.

One of the biggest negative effects of traffic jam is energy wastage. The greatest amount of loss is in the sectors of fuel. According to the calculation which is done by Ali (2011), the ecologist of Fakultas Teknik Universitas Indonesia, “The wastage of fuel because of traffic jam is around Rp 10,7 triliun per years”. This disadvantage is calculated from the number of fuel which is wasted due to vehicle stuck in traffic. Although nowadays some industries have produce car which has economical fuel, the ratio of energy wastage is still be a big problem for Indonesian. Moreover, energy supply of fuel in Indonesia always diminishes year by year. Besides, traffic congestion would be one of the factors which leads Indonesia into fuel shortages.

Another negative effect of traffic jam is about the loss of time. The writer believes that time is money. There are only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year and people have to spend some of that time for sleeping, eating, playing, relaxing, studying, etc. The writer sometimes hears that some people still need the additional time for finishing their duty or activity. That is why the writer believes that time is money, but due to traffic jam, someone has to lose her/his worth time. Because of traffic jam, some people also have to spend their precious time on the road. Based on the writer’s experience, she has to waste her time around 3,5 hours for travelling from Senayan to Bekasi, whereas the maximum time for travelling from Senayan to Bekasi is just around 1 hours if the writer walks along high way. Moreover, Ali (2011) stated,“The total amount of the disadvantages of the Indonesian productive times due to traffic jam are around Rp 9,7 triliun per years”.Because that is not a small amount, government should take more attention of traffic congestion problem in Indonesia. Government should not let Indonesian’s productive time lost on the highway because of traffic jam than because of their creativity in the office.

The next negative effect of traffic jam is a health problem. Traffic jam can give a bad effect for human health. It is related to the statement stated by Ahmadi, one of the professors of Public Health Universitas Indonesia. In Ahmadi’s view (2011), “Transportation sector contributes about 80% of air pollution which can affect some health problems, such as, asthma, bronchitis, pneunomia, cardiovascular disease, nervous system andliver-kidney”. As the additional information, United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) has placed Jakarta as the third most pollutant city in the world after Mexico City and Bangkok. The UNEP also said that 67 percent of the pollution comes from automobile emissions. Furthermore, according to Kojima and Lovei (2001), “Traffic congestion is the biggest donator to particle emissions which contribute to the increasing of 80-90 percent Pb (Plumbum)”. Pb is a hazardous compound that may be harmful to human health. In Dyah’s view, “Beside Mercury (Hg), Plumbum (Pb) is also a kind of heavy metal contaminant with high danger level”. Furthermore, Kurniawan’s study (2008) found the following:

          Pb dapat memberikan efek-efek toksik pada sistem neurologis, reproduksi hematologi, urinaria dan jantung. Keracunan Pb  dapat menimbulkan anemia, hipertensi, kerusakan otak, seperti antaksia dan penurunan daya pikir, atau bahkan berdampak pada kematian.

Besides, WHO (World Health Organization) estimated that 400.000 people die each year because of the pollution which is caused by traffic congestion in the world. Due to that tragic fact, people should not view traffic congestion as a diminutive problem.

Therefore, the facts that show the negative effects of traffic should be contemplation for Indonesian people. To reduce the negative impacts of traffic congestion, people should be able to overcome the traffic congestion itself. Government should pay attention to find the solutions to overcome traffic congestion in Indonesia, such as by improving the public transportation system, so that people are more interested in using public transportation rather than private vehicles. By this recommendation, it is expected that traffic congestion in Indonesia can be addressed immediately.