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They are cheap, fast and easy to obtain. To their owners they are the perfect solution to Jakarta’s traffic, but to most other commuters they are just another headache. They are motorcycles, proliferating at such an astonishing rate that they are starting to become part of the problem when it comes to the capital’s notorious traffic congestion.

Thanks to a booming economy and a flood of easy financing, motorcycle sales in Indonesia have exploded over the past decade, rising 1,000 percent since 1999.

According to the Indonesian Motorcycle Industries Association, fewer than 500,000 motorcycles were sold in the country in 1999, compared with an estimated 6.4 million expected to hit the roads this year — including 20 to 30 percent of that total on Jakarta’s already clogged streets.

The reasons are simple. Motorcycles are cheap to buy and maintain, and financing can be had for the asking. In addition, they can cut the average commute in half or less, a not-insignificant benefit in Jakarta, where unreliable and relatively costly public transportation combines with ever-worsening traffic congestion to add to the appeal of motorbikes.

Darmaningtyas, executive director of the Institute of Transportation Studies, said motorcycles have become popular because public transportation is not reliable, comfortable or safe enough, while motorcycles are relatively cheap, even compared to public transportation, and can move quickly through heavy traffic.

“For example, it only takes less than Rp 10,000 to cover the distance from Jalan Sudirman to Depok by motorcycle. Using public transport, it would be double that amount, and also take longer to arrive at your destination.”

Just ask Fransisca Rini, who works at an insurance company. She is considering buying a motorcycle — already her main mode of transportation.

“I prefer to take an ojek [motorcycle taxi] to work because it’s fast. It takes me 1.5 hours to go to my office in the morning by bus but only 45 minutes by motorcycle,” she said.

But perhaps no factor is as responsible for the proliferation of motorcycles as the growth of consumer finance.

A Rp 10 million ($1,100) cycle can be purchased with only an ID card, a family card (KK) and a down payment of 10 to 20 percent.

Few companies run credit or employment checks. Why? Perhaps due to interest rates as high as 25 percent annually.

Armando Lung, president director of Bussan Auto Finance, said the volume of motorcycle loans at his company had tripled over the past five years as financing companies relaxed requirements for borrowers.

The company expects to finance 900,000 units this year, he said, up from 300,000 in 2005.

Nationally, 75 percent of motorcycles are expected to purchased with loans in 2010, up from about 65 percent last year, he said.

“This kind of growth was supported by increasing purchasing power in line with growth in the Indonesian economy,” he added.

One of the main benefits of owning a motorcycle — the ability to slice through traffic — has created what Darmaningtyas labeled a “vicious circle.”

“They want to beat the traffic, but as [motorcyles become more numerous], the traffic just gets worse,” he said. “There is almost one motorcycle for every person in Jakarta, and you can see what kind of chaos they create.”

Jakarta is considering restricting motorcycles in certain areas to ease congestion, said Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office.

“In the future, our plan is to limit the use of motorcycles in roads along all TransJakarta routes,” he told the Jakarta Globe in July.

Other experts say they should be banned from the city center, as in Beijing and Singapore.

Darmaningtyas said that to some extent motorcyclists have themselves to blame for the backlash.

“Motorcycle riders are the most selfish on the road. They change lanes as they please, they don’t want to wait at all, they use pedestrian lanes, they even use underpasses as shelters when it rains, blocking the traffic.”

But he said restricting motorbikes would create an uproar if public transportation were not improved to compensate.

“What the government should do is enforce law. Currently, it is easy to get a license without even taking the test. Police should be stricter in dealing with motorcyclists,” he said.

Arief, a waiter who relies on his motorcycle to commute, said the government needs to consider other options instead of issuing restrictions.

“The government needs to come up with the solution, for example providing a lane specifically for motorcycles on specific roads [such as major thoroughfares],” he said.