According to Tempo, 18 Jakarta roads are to progressively have congestion pricing introduced, cover 174 kms of road. Jakarta has been discussing congestion pricing for over eight years, and has trialled it with some success, but has not been able to develop sufficient support to introduce it in full. Jakarta maintains its "odd-even" policy for number plate access into the central part of the city in the meantime.
Meanwhile, Jakarta has made tremendous efforts to improve the quality of alternatives to the private car in recent years, spending a great deal on footpaths adjacent to key corridors and installing cycle lanes (63km by 2020) and major new public transport networks. This includes lanes for bus rapid transit, expansion of the city's metro and major upgrades of its long neglected commuter passenger rail network. It also integrated fares for most public transport including a flat fare for travel between modes.
This saw Jakarta win a sustainable transport award at the end of 2020. This matters because for congestion pricing in Jakarta to be a success, it needed capacity for alternative options and the city was particularly poor for active travel, but with Covid, there has been a significant increase in cycling and walking.
There remain challenges for congestion pricing, including enforcement based on number plate recognition, but if implemented well, it could see a significant transformation for a city plagued by congestion, pollution and previously with very poor alternatives to driving.
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