Traffic

Unfortunately, this last month I've spent alot of time at the SOS clinic in Kuningan.  My youngest has had one illness or another this last little while.  While I was waiting with her at the clinic this last time, I picked up a newspaper to read.  There was an article about the traffic in Jakarta.  Anyone who lives in Jakarta can relate to how awful the traffic situation is here.  The article talked about the construction of the flyways and whether or not the projects would help the increasing traffic problem. 

In the article, it was reported that on a daily basis, some 230+ cars and almost 900 motorcycles are added to the roads each day!  No wonder I kept thinking that traffic seemed alot worse than when I first moved here almost 1 year ago.  It is!  Major roads and intersections are terrible.  The article said that in one particular area, the road could accomodate 3500 cars per hour.  Well, there are 4500 cars that pass through there each hour.  I'm thinking that by the time the flyways are finished, there will be too many cars and motorcycles on the road to make a real difference.  I think that there needs to be some way to limit the exponential growth of the number of vehicles on the road.  I heard somewhere that traffic in Jakarta will come to a gridlock by 2014.  I hope I'm not around to see that.  I find sitting in current traffic frustrating enough.

I have to say that the traffic is probably the number one thing that I dislike about living here in Jakarta.  My driver makes having to go from one place to another a bit more bearable.  Unfortunately, as fate would have it, he is sick today  Thursdays are my worse days in terms of having places that I need to go. 

Last Thursday, the first taxi I pre-ordered never showed.  The second taxi was running extremely late.  By the time the dispatcher said it would arrive, it would have been over an hour late.  I jumped into the first available taxi I could find, but it didn't help me get to my destination any faster.  The driver took me on a 1/2 hour ride only to end up just across the street from my apartment.  Then it took another hour to get to my destination.  To say that I was frustrated is putting it mildly.

Today I've pre-ordered 2 taxis. I sure hope they come and that I will make it to my destinations in less time than it took me the last time. I'm crossing my fingers that today will be a better day than the last. Traffic in Jakarta is bad.  Sometimes it is worse.  And, once in a blue moon, I am pleasantly surprised. Such is life in the Big Durian.