Jakarta’s Car Free Day on the Rise

Posted: 12 Jun 2008

Related to: Jakarta BRT, Planning & Advocacy for Cycling & Walking, Indonesia
Contributed by: Mirja J. Eggers

The honking horns, revving engines, grey clouds of noxious tailpipe fumes, and chaos of two of Jakarta’s main streets are exchanged for peace, quiet, and unobstructed walking and cycling if only for a few hours on Sunday. Thousands of residents enjoy the Car Free Day, where two main streets of this city of nearly 10 million people in Indonesia are closed to motorized vehicles.



Cyclists take over the streets on Jakarta’s Car Free Days. (Source: Ahmad Safrudin, KPBB)

Three Sundays a month, from 6 to 9 AM, about six kilometers of the inner lanes of streets are closed to motorized traffic, except TransJakarta, the bus rapid transit system, to accommodate biking, walking, roller-skating and other forms of non-motorized transport.  The outer lanes are still open to mixed traffic.  On the last Sunday of every month, an additional 12 kilometers are closed from 6 AM to 2 PM, and the largest roundabout of the city, Bundaran Hotel Indonesia, trades gridlock and motorized madness for fun and games, becoming a playground with a library for children, a stage for local bands to perform, a field for soccer tournaments, and has special activities such as bicycle races.


Streets become public playgrounds on which soccer tournaments can take place during Jakarta’s Car Free Days. (Source: Mirja J. Eggers)

Jakarta’s first Car Free Day was held on the 22nd September, 2002.  At that time, local, national and international NGO’s joined forces to call attention to more environmental modes of transport and to create awareness about the advantages of a car-free environment.  Air quality was so poor that emissions regularly exceeded the international Ambient Air Quality Standard. The event’s organizers aimed to link improving air quality with reducing motorized traffic.


The first Car Free Day was held in Jakarta in September 2002.  (Source: Ahmad Safrudin, KPBB)

In an effort to meet local legislation requiring reducing air pollution, the municipal government took over the event in 2005 and after a one-year transition period, the government, in cooperation with NGOs, held its first monthly event in September 2007. This event attracted over 10,000 people, and since then the Car Free Day has regularly attracted 5,000 people.

Figure 1: Participation in Jakarta’s Car Free Day

(Source: Interview with Ahmad Safrudin (KPBB) on 28th March, 2008)

While the event has certainly created awareness about air quality and non-motorized transport, and TransJakarta has provided a quality alternative to commuting in a private vehicle, registrations for motorcycles and cars in the city continue to rise each month.  ITDP has suggested measures to the municipality to improve attendance at the event, including closing additional lanes to traffic, offering more rental bikes, and showing how the event improves air quality and noise pollution.

Figure 2: Number of registered motorcycles and passenger cars in Jakarta in 2006

(Source: Statistics DKI Jakarta Provincial Office (2007): Jakarta in Figures)

The municipality of Jakarta plans to expand the area of the Car Free Day in the coming months and get more private sponsors, in an effort to build support for streets for people and not cars.



Many activities also take place during the Car Free Days, such as concerts of local bands and fun bike rides and contests.  (Source: Mirja J. Eggers)

Video from Youtube of Car Free Day in Jakarta


** Addiitonal note to article**

On June 20th, Bike to Work held a campaign in which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia participated.  Below are pictures from the events and some links to other photos:



President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono poses for group photo with Bike to Work cyclists. (Source: Izzul Waro)


Militia Kusuma and Restiti Sekartini, ITDP Indonesia’s Deputy County Director, get ready to ride in the campaign to support bicycling to work.  (Source: Izzul Waro)


Militia Kusuma, ITDP Indonesia’s Country Director, and Harya Setyaka, ITDP Indonesia’s Transport Expert, participate in the bike campaign as well.  (Source: Izzul Waro)

Links to other photos:
MTB-Rockers
J Hariman’s Bike 2 Work Photos
SBY Bersepeda ke Monas