Djarot Wants to Review Dukuh Atas Transportation Hub Plan
Jakarta. Construction of the Light Rail Transit system for the Greater Jakarta area was launched on Wednesday and work on the Mass Rapid Transit system is already in full swing, but a key node in the city's future transportation network may not be able to fulfill its envisioned role, officials fear.
Dukuh Atas, located in Central Jakarta close to key key roads like Jalan Jenderal Sudirman and Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said, already hosts the Sudirman train station and several connected TransJakarta busway stops.
But the area in coming years will also be hooked up to the LRT and MRT systems. On top of that, a new rail connection between Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in neighboring Banten province, will also be centered on Dukuh Atas.
According to the city's deputy governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, an estimated 25,000 people will be in the area during rush hours to use any or several of the five modes of transportation at Dukuh Atas, once construction at the site is completed.
In a meeting with the Jakarta Transportation Council, a government-funded think tank, at City Hall on Thursday, Djarot expressed his fear that Dukuh Atas may not be able to handle such numbers.
"Can Dukuh Atas really accommodate all these people?" he said. "Can you imagine 25,000 people together, each with their own destination -- some take the busway, others the MRT, LRT, Commuter [train] Line and the Airport Train? All I'm saying is that this [plan] needs to be reviewed carefully, including all the various routes."
The deputy governor said the government indeed wants to turn Dukuh Atas into a transportation hub as part of a system of Transit Oriented Development, but that it was crucial to also take the bigger picture of the surrounding area into consideration.
"There has to be a comprehensive review involving the operators of the various modes of transportation that will be located there," Djarot said.
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