Yogyakarta is a peaceful city where you could go as far as you want without encountering any traffic congestion or air pollution, said no one ever.
Well, to be fair, that statement was still valid ten years ago. A survey conducted by Waze in 2015 even included Yogyakarrtain their list of the worlds most traffic-congested cities. I mean, take a look at some points like Jl. Godean, Jl. Solo, Yogyakarta Monument (Tugu Yogyakarta) or Mirota Kampus (this looks a bit better after redirection made in Jl. Cik Ditiro) and more. There are twelve congestion-prone spots in the city according to Yogyakarta Traffic Directorate and the number almost triples to 34 spots on long weekends.
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I haveseen a much better Yogyakarta with less traffic jam in this case. The areas like Pingit, Janti, or Gondomanan used to beso tranquileight to ten years ago, but now it takes me more than thirty minutes to reach my office in Umbulharjo from Gamping because I have to avoid the traffic light-traffic jam combo from Wirobrajan to Kusumanegaran.
The number of private vehicles today is so high it makes theroads in Yogyakarta practically incapacitated to accommodate them all.
Between 2010 and 2015, Yogyakarta saw an increase of 7 to 10 percent in the numbers of vehicles. In 2016 alone, according to Yogyakarta Traffic Directorate, there were 84,312 new vehicles registered in the city. This makes around 2,280,000 vehicles in total running in Jogja.
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There might be some ways to anticipate it judging from factors that causes this situation like the population growth, narrowing highway, etc.. But, I think the most feasibleway (for now) to tackle the problem is by continuing the Trans Jogja development.
Considering the district outside Yogyakarta like Sleman, Bantul, Kulonprogo and Gunungkidul are the biggest suppliers of vehicles commuting in the city, the Trans Jogja project would need more than dozens of bus stops and hundreds of new fleets to make a significant difference. Improvement of area coverage and service is also needed to make people finally want to use Trans Jogja as a main mean of transportation.
As TransJogja copied the concept of TransJakarta from the very beginning, I think it's time to consider copying TransJakarta's most useful feature: having special bus lanesthat cannot be entered by private vehicles.
It takes time to improve the service quality and area coverage, but not to providing congestion-free lanes. It can be a good start and it will give a glimpse of hope that Yogyakarta's traffic can be better in the coming years.