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Jakarta. The Jakarta administration’s plan to partially ban on-street parking next year to ease traffic congestion and encourage public transport use has received a mixed response from transport analysts, business owners and roadside parking attendants.

The city plans to initially eliminate on-street parking along Jalan Hayam Wuruk and Jalan Gadjah Mada in Central Jakarta, where roadside parking outside the shops and restaurants there causes daily congestions.

The Jakarta Transportation Office says both streets have a combined on-street parking capacity of only 650 vehicles, while the available parking space within buildings along both roads is enough for more than 4,500 motorcycles and 6,200 cars.

The administration and the Jakarta Police have already signed an agreement to keep busway lanes clear of non-TransJakarta vehicles and to clamp down on roadside parking parallel to the busway lanes.

However, not everyone agrees with the plans.

Sofyan, the owner of Pondok Djaja, a popular Padang restaurant on Jalan Hayam Wuruk, opposes the move.

“Banning roadside parking here will drastically cut down the number of guests at my restaurant,” he said.

“People come here from all over the city by car. Not many customers come from nearby offices. I ask the city not to implement this ban on Jalan Hayam Wuruk. With or without roadside parking, traffic congestion during peak hours occurs all over the city anyway.”

Parking attendant Taufik said he was no fan of the plan either. Taufik is in charge of a strip of roadside parking — for up to 16 cars — on Jalan Hayam Wuruk.

“I’ve been in charge of roadside parking here since 1984,” he said. “What will I do if vehicles are no longer allowed to park here? How will I earn money?”

However, Jemi, one of the owners of Bakmi Glodok, a popular noodle restaurant on Jalan Gadjah Mada, said he agreed with the city’s new policy.

“The vehicles parked here on the road do cause traffic jams,” he said. “The cars parked out here basically close off access to my restaurant, so if parking is banned here, it’ll be easier for people to see my restaurant.”

Parking attendant Danny Arachim directs roadside parking right outside the Central Jakarta District Court. He said he did not understand the fuss.

“Parking is allowed here, just look at the sign!” he said, pointing to the signpost that showed parallel parking was permitted in a single row.

However, the vehicles under Danny’s supervision were taking up two rows, overlapping onto an entire lane of the road.

During major court hearings, it is not unusual to see cars taking up three rows, further constricting the available road space.

“People don’t want to park inside Gadjah Mada Plaza because they charge by the hour,” Danny said. “Out on the road, people just pay a one-off fee of Rp 1,500.”

Salim, a snack vendor outside the court, said his business would be greatly affected if roadside parking was scrapped.

“If people can’t park here anymore and have to park far away, chances are they won’t come to my stall,” he said.

Fransiskus Trisbiantara, a transportation expert from Trisakti University, said even though scrapping roadside parking would free up to 30 percent of road capacity, the city must take into consideration the economic activities of the hundreds of people linked to roadside parking.

“Besides, the parking restrictions would be useless without good traffic management,” Fransiskus said.

Another measure the city plans to adopt to ease traffic congestion is a progressive tax on new vehicle ownership, to take effect from Jan. 1 next year.

“The tax will be 1.5 percent of vehicle value for the first vehicle, 1.75 percent for the second, 2.5 percent for third, 4 percent for the fourth and so on,” said Arif Susilo, an official from the Jakarta Tax Office.