Evaluating congestion policy instruments in Jakarta

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is notorious for its traffic jams. Over time, government authorities have developed and implemented several policy instruments to reduce congestion. These range from toll roads to public transportation to Travel Demand Management (TDM) measures such as the “three in one” scheme and the “odd-even” scheme. Unfortunately, like in many other cities, these measures have been implemented without due consideration for the evaluation of their impact on traffic flow, impeding a judgement on their success. In this research we evaluate the current odd-even scheme in Jakarta based on available data. We discuss methods by which effects on congestion can be measured and develop an approach that can be used by the responsible authorities for future interventions. We use traffic flow data on two main corridors and a number of alternative routes. We formulate a number of hypotheses to test if changes in traffic flows have happened. Results indicate that, while minor changes have occurred, a systematic effect of and causal relation with the odd-even scheme on traffic flows could not be established. Based on literature, we review and evaluate methods by which impacts of other relevant TDM schemes have been determined, and discuss their application to the Jakarta situation. We conclude that systematic evaluation is required based on a consistent methodology, which allows controlling for non-traffic related parameters that are of influence. Looking ahead, we provide recommendations on how the policy of electronic road pricing, which is to be implemented in 2019, may be evaluated.