Share the road: Walkers, cyclists are not second-class citizens Article originally published in Jakarta Post, August 12, 2017 A few weeks ago, a video of a fight between motorcyclists and pedestrians in Jakarta went viral. The Koalisi Pejalan Kaki (Pedestrian Coalition) held a peaceful protest on one of the busiest streets in Jakarta to reclaim pedestrian space in the metropolitan. It claimed that, every day, 18 pedestrians are killed in Indonesia— a really high number given that Indonesians walk the least number of steps per day on average, according to a recent study by Stanford University. Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat echoed the protesters’ claim: The sidewalk is a safe space for people who walk, so motorcyclists should not rob them of their right. Alfred Sitorus from the Pedestrian Coalition cited the poorly enforced 2009 Traffic Law, which should ensure this right. In cities like Jakarta, people who walk or bike are treated as second-class citizens. I have never owned a car in my life and wish people like me got equal treatment on the road. Walking and biking are the most affordable modes of transportation, yet cities tend to focus on the more expensive modes such as cars and motorcycles. When cities favor private motorized vehicles over pedestrians, they are directly pushing out their most vulnerable populations. Let’s expand the goal of our transportation system. For decades, a good transportation system was simply thought to be one that allowed people and goods to move efficiently. Cars were thought of as the holy-grail solution, until we started to suffer from traffic and pollution. Indeed, a good transportation system requires comfort, safety, affordability, health considerations and countless others. One that we often overlook is dignity. Everyone wants to drive to show that they can afford a car and pay for gas, unlike those who must inhale the fumes.
In Jakarta, the hierarchy is clear: Cars and motorcycles are most important, followed by public transit users and finally pedestrians. The city’s urban infrastructure further encourages such behavior. The total length of roadway in Jakarta was close to 7 million meters in 2015, while there were only 540,000 thousand meters of sidewalk by 2013. Only less than onetenth of the capital’s roads are safe for pedestrians. It is difficult to find dignity when one does not even have the right to use the public facility. This case is not unique to Indonesia or other cities in developing countries. Following the automotive industry boom in the 1900s, cities in the United States were busy building highways and roadways to accommodate the influx of cars. Such an approach to city planning resulted in wide boulevards, vast swaths of parking lots and urban sprawling. As cities were becoming increasingly car-oriented, the costs of driving were imposed on the society — not just drivers — in uneven spending on highways and the subsequent public health hazards. Those who used other transportation modes, such as pedestrians, faced significant mobility barriers. As a response to this car-centric planning, the Complete Streets movement was introduced in the US in late 2003. The goal was to balance the needs of and ensure the same rights for all street users – pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders and motorists. The movement also considers wheelchair users. It advanced the implementation of the American Disabilities Act, a civil rights law banning discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including transportation.
The Complete Streets’ multimodal approach to the transportation system spread rapidly. Cities are now actively trying to diversify their transportation modes by widening sidewalks, improving crosswalks and installing bike lanes and transit stops, among others. The US still has a long way to go until it reverses cars’ adverse impacts on its cities, but Jakarta should not repeat the mistake of letting cars and motorcycles dictate its transport system. Jakarta is finally taking bold steps in advancing its public transportation system, and this is great momentum for us to question how public transit will interact with other modes of transportation. One does not simply take the MRT; rather, one must somehow reach the station to board the train. Since transitoriented development has yet to be adopted in Jakarta, people will still need to spend a considerable amount of time reaching or leaving transit stations. The first- and last-mile journeys are critical in creating an equitable transportation system in the capital. If Jakarta intends to reach its goal of 40 percent public transit mode share in 2019, it needs to ensure that people of all abilities can access the mass transit network, either by walking, biking or taking feeder services. The city must consider urban design to seamlessly connect public transit with its users and the surrounding environment. Pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders have every right to be in the city the way their fellow car-driving and motorcycleriding citizens do. They should not be denied the right to use their already limited space. The road is a public space, and Jakarta must learn to share.