Changing Transportation Behaviors in Jakarta

The recent announcement that North Jakarta plans to develop fifty kilometers of bike lanes is hopeful news indeed. Multitudes of Jakartans have shown their enthusiasm for cycling on Car Free Days and at untold numbers of funbikes; many others depend on cycling to earn their livelihood. Also, among other benefits, bicycling represents a practical way to commute and to run errands that reduces the toxicity of Jakarta’s air and Indonesia’s contribution to global warming. So let’s hope that funding is provided.

But the new bike lanes will suffer the same neglect as those in Blok M, Bekasi, and Bandung unless the government and cycling groups take specific steps to ensure the lanes’ popularity among cyclists.

First and foremost, physical obstacles must block motorbikes and other vehicles along the entire length of the bicycle lane – thus making it a bicycle “path.” The mayor of North Jakarta stated that barriers will…

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