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Jakarta. Managing car and motorcycle traffic outside schools during morning rush hour in Greater Jakarta is no easy feat. Just ask Kardin, a security guard at state high school SMAN 70 in South Jakarta.

“SMAN 70 is located next to the Attorney General’s Office, which makes my job so much harder. There is just so much traffic in the morning every single day,” Kardin told the Jakarta Globe.

He added that he wished the students would just take public or school buses. “And then there are the students who use motorcycles. That’s such a headache.”

The early morning rush-hour chaos suffered by Jakarta residents is at its worst 10 out of 12 months a year, when 1.6 million students join the daily commute.

The problem is compounded by the number of students now driving to school on motorbikes.

Warsono Edi Lukito, head of student affairs at state high school SMAN 65 in West Jakarta, says over the years the school has seen a huge increase in the number of students taking their own vehicles to school.

“Unlike before, most of our 600 students today either drive their own motorcycles to school or are dropped off by a parent. Fewer than 20 students walk to school,” Warsono said, glancing outside to where dozens of motorcycles were parked.

“This trend grew so fast that we’ve revoked a school rule that prohibited student use of motorcycles on school grounds.”

Sutanto Soehodho, Jakarta’s deputy for trade, industry and transportation affairs, said many students opted for motorcycles over public transportation because motorcycles were affordable, easy to purchase and cheap to maintain.

In January of last year, the city administration implemented a policy requiring schools to start 30 minutes earlier, in an effort to spread out the morning traffic rush among students, workers and government officials.

“The whole idea behind the policy is to manage the morning rush-hour traffic, which is caused by working people, truck drivers and students jamming up the city streets,” said Riza Hasyim, deputy head of the Jakarta Transportation Office.

“We wanted to create a break in the peak hours, so 6:30 a.m. is allocated for students, while anytime after 7 a.m. is for workers.”

As a result, Jakarta’s students now have to wake up earlier.

Halim, 16, who lives in West Jakarta, said he was already out the door and on his way to school by 5:45 a.m. each day.

“I leave so early because I know I have to ride my motorcycle down Jalan Panjang, which is where my school is located and which is famous for being crowded. Leaving home that early is the only way to reach my desk by 6:30 a.m.,” said Halim, who goes to school at SMAN 65.

However, even though Halim leaves early and his home is less than five kilometers away from his school, his morning commute still takes around 30 minutes.

Sutanto said students put a significant strain on the already congested streets of Jakarta, but acknowledged that the decision to move the school day forward by half an hour had done little to reduce the capital’s growing traffic problems.

Jakarta’s roads can only realistically accommodate 1.05 million of the 1.55 million cars now registered in the capital, according to Elly Sinaga, director general of land transportation at the Ministry of Transportation.

City spokesman Cucu Ahmad Kurnia said Jakarta’s road to area ratio was 6.2 percent, low compared to Tokyo, London and New York City, which have road to area ratios above 14 percent.

Teguh Wijayanto, who heads the public relations division at Blue Bird, the country’s largest taxi company, said the idea of school buses should be explored to help ease traffic.

“One small bus, for example, can accommodate 10 students,” Teguh said.

“If every person travels in one car, then they will add to the traffic by tenfold. Beyond this, school buses also contribute to helping the environment by reducing emissions. Schools need to be encouraged to consider providing more bus services,” he said.

A school bus would make life easier for Daffa, a student at SMAN 70 who lives in Tangerang. For him, commuting to school each day means waking up at 4:45 a.m. and leaving home at 5:15 a.m. in order to get to class on time.

“I don’t mind getting up so early because this is really the school I wanted to go to,” Daffa told the Globe. “But I wish our school could provide buses for us. We all wish that the city would add more school buses and routes. It would be so much easier for us.”

Riza said the city currently provided just 34 school buses free of charge, four of which are spares. The active buses serve four main routes and two connecting routes, passing near at least 127 state junior high schools and 93 high schools.

But these 30 school buses benefit just 6,000 junior and senior high school students, Sutanto said, or less than 0.5 percent of all students in Jakarta.

Riza said the city administration had no plans to add to the fleet due to budget issues.

“I am aware that there are not enough school buses for state schools. But it is what we can do and manage right now,” Riza said.

The transportation official added that the capital was home to 928 junior high schools, 497 high schools and 582 vocational schools, both state and private.

“The city’s transportation office plans to add another 10 buses next year. That is the best we can at the moment,” Riza said.

City spokesman Cucu said he believed easing traffic would require a coordinated three-part effort to build more roads, curb the number of vehicles on the roads and improve and expand public transportation, a solution that not only involves the education sector, but Jakarta as a whole.


Route I:

Lapangan Banteng to Kemayoran in Central Jakarta

— Serves 16 junior high schools and 29 high schools

Route II:

Pulogadung in East Jakarta to Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta — Serves 36 junior high schools and 29 high schools

Route III:

Taman Mini to Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta

— Serves 57 junior high schools and 15 high schools

Route IV: Pasar Minggu to Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta — Serves 18 junior high schools and 20 high schools

Road-to-Area Ratio:

In Jakarta: 6.2 percent

In Tokyo, London and New York: over 14 percent