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Jakarta. The multibillion dollar plan to build toll roads in Jakarta was rebuffed by transportation experts as shortsighted, saying the city administration should focus on improving public transportation and traffic management rather than laying new pavement.

Darmaningtyas, chairman of the Institute of Transportation Studies, said on Tuesday that he strongly opposed the plan to build six toll roads while other aspects of the capital’s transportation infrastructure were nonexistent or in a state of disrepair.

“The toll roads will serve only to increase the number of private vehicles, thus worsening the traffic situation,” he told the Jakarta Globe. “It would be better if the authorities improved the TransJakarta busway system and the train network.”

He also called on the administration to repair existing roads instead of building new ones.

Tri Tjahjono, head of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Transport Society (MTI), backed those calls and said the city’s notorious gridlock would only be improved if fresh ideas were brought to the table.

The new toll roads, he went on, would have been more appropriate “several years ago, when the traffic wasn’t as bad as it is now.”

Tri also argued that the project would be very costly, given the large amounts of land that would have to be appropriated to make room for the roadways.

“It would be better to develop its existing roads to more adequately handle the traffic, which would help connect all parts of the capital,” he said.

He also urged sounder traffic management to even out the high concentration of vehicles in the central business district during rush hours.

However, if the administration insists on pushing ahead with the new roads project, Tri went on, it must ensure that a consortium of city-owned contractors win the construction and operation tenders.

“If a private company wins the tenders, they keep all the profits,” he said. “But if the city wins, it can use the profits for other development projects.”

Governor Fauzi Bowo has long championed the construction of new roads, arguing that the 6.2 percent of city area currently dedicated to roads, or road ratio, must be increased.

He also cited the growth rate of new roads of only 0.01 percent a year as one of the reasons for the worsening traffic in the capital.

“We can’t build many more regular roads, so we’re looking at building elevated roads for long-distance commutes,” he said.

The six toll roads will be built in four stages, at a total cost of Rp 40 trillion ($4.4 billion).

The first 28-kilometer stretch will link Semanan in West Jakarta to Pulogebang in East Jakarta, and is expected to cost Rp 17 trillion.

The first phase of that stage, a 7.5-km link from Semanan to Pedongkelan in West Jakarta, will have a budget of Rp 5 trillion. Construction of this phase is expected to begin next year and end in 2012.

An estimated 21.9 hectares of land will be purchased for the roads themselves, while an additional 44 hectares will be leased from the current owners.

The entry and exit ramps alone will require 69.5 hectares of acquired land and 54 hectares of rented land.