Ngobrol Jakarta was back on Friday, March 26, 2020.  This time, Ngobrol Jakarta discussed the implementation of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in Kota Tua, Jakarta. On this occasion, Ngobrol Jakarta featured Rudi Saptari as Head of the Traffic Division of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency, Noni Sabandar as Urban Planning Assistant from ITDP Indonesia, and Peter Kho as the founder of the first electric vehicle community in Asia. 

Why Implement LEZ in Kota Tua (Jakarta Old City)? 

The Kota Tua Jakarta area is home to many cultural heritages, such as museums and other historical buildings. Apart from that, Kota Tua is also a popular destination for tourist. This encourages the government to keep this area as well as possible. Rudi Saptari stated that the application of LEZ can create a better and pollution-free environment. As we already know, pollution caused by motor vehicles is bad for health and the preservation of cultural heritage. The implementation of a Low Emission Zone or LEZ in Kota Tua Jakarta is intended to protect cultural heritage from air pollution by limiting vehicles entering the area.

Jakarta's Way to Implement LEZ Gradually

Of course, the job of transforming the Kota Tua area, which is usually crowded with people, into a low-emission area, cannot be done in an instant. If vehicles are restricted when passing in the Kota Tua area, it means that a comfortable and safe alternative infrastructure must be prepared. Therefore, the LEZ implementation was carried out in stages. At the beginning, the LEZ policy for the Kota Tua tourism area was conducted on 18 December 2020-23 December 2020. Then, the implementation of the LEZ phase I policy began on 8 February 2021, the arrangement of pedestrians and roads by the DKI Jakarta Province Bina Marga, the arrangement of Jakarta Kota stations by Jakarta Transportation Department, implementation of LEZ phase II policy with the conversion of jl Lada to pedestrian plazas, construction of city MRT lines and stations, and implementation of stage III LEZ policies.

In the first stage, there is a prohibition on private transportation and other non-Transjakarta vehicles. The Transportation Department still provides stickers for stakeholders’ vehicles who are active and working in that place. The next stage will certainly be further helped along with other infrastructure facilities available in the Kota Tua, such as drop off and parking facilities around the area, easy public transportation access, comfortable pedestrians, free shuttle bus service and bike sharing. The gradual implementation of LEZ is also monitored and evaluated so that the policies will have a good impact on the Kota Tua area and its surroundings.

Creating a Sustainable City of Jakarta

According to Noni Sabandar from ITDP, the existence of LEZ supports the formation of cities for humans that have space allocation for humans, pedestrianization, vehicle restrictions, etc. Apart from Jakarta, several cities in the world have also implemented vehicle restrictions, for example the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London and the Green Transport Zone in Seoul. Although the situation is not entirely the same, such vehicle restriction movements have proven to be effective and have a good impact.

In order for the implementation of LEZ to be more optimal and to support the formation of a sustainable city, ITDP provides recommendations for the preparation of monitoring and evaluation indicators for the implementation of LEZ to be more comprehensive and not only covering air pollution.

Then, in order to support Jakarta as a city that is sustainable and with minimal pollution, Peter Kho from the electric vehicle community also invited residents to be open to alternatives to low emission vehicles, such as electric vehicles. This is because in addition to having a bad impact on the environment, conventional vehicles are also considered a waste in terms of heat energy. For anyone who wants to get to know about electric vehicles, the long-established electric vehicle community has also opened the door to the widest possible discussion to talk about the use of electric vehicles via kendaraanlistrik.net or instagram @kendaraanlistrikdotnet. Peter Kho believes that what the DKI Jakarta provincial government has done to incentivize electric vehicle users is a good first step to support alternative low-emission vehicles.

Smartcitizen, let's together create a better and more sustainable Jakarta by supporting the implementation of the LEZ area in Jakarta and equally switching to using alternative vehicles that are more environmentally friendly. 

About Ngobrol Jakarta

Ngobrol Jakarta is a monthly discussion activity related to various issues in DKI Jakarta. This discussion was carried out at JSCHive by CoHive in collaboration with Jakarta Smart City (JSC). During the pandemic, these activities continue online. Ngobrol Jakarta is an interesting discussion activity because it always involves various sources from Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD), startups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to other community groups. Ngobrol Jakarta is an informative discussion space to discuss various problems in the city of Jakarta and try to find solutions.