Indonesia loses 4.7 bln USD each year to traffic jams
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on January 8 that traffic congestion in Jakarta and its nearby areas results in annual economic losses of nearly 4.7 billion USD.
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodosaid on January 8 that traffic congestion in Jakarta and its nearby areasresults in annual economic losses of nearly 4.7 billion USD.
According to the National Development Planning Agency(Bappenas), the figure is calculated based on traffic congestion inJabodetabek, Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
He said the figure is enough to push the development of alternativetransport modes both within and outside Jakarta, especially public transportsystems. If accumulated over five years, the sum of losses will be enough tofund the construction of a light rail transit and metro line.
As many as 9.9 million automobiles, motorbikes, trucks, andother vehicles travel around Jakarta’s streets every day, including nearly 2million from nearby cities in West Java and Banten.
Each resident in Jakarta is likely to spend an average of 10years throughout their life caught in traffic. Up to 70 percent of airpollution comes from vehicles.
Traffic jams have been getting worse in the country asfrom 2005-2010, the number of motorised vehicles rose by 9.5 percent each year,while the total number of roads only went up 0.01 percent. –VNA
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Illustrative photo (Source: Antara/Galih Pradipta) 
