*) A special tribute from ASEC Founder to APUFY 2015
“Eradicating” Traffic Jam: A Way to Make History
By:
Emmy Yuniarti Rusadi
International Delegate for APUFY (Asia Pacific Urban 2015
Founder of ASEC (Actual Smile English Club)
Researcher on Urban Planning
I am friend of time that teachs me a lot how to communicate with youths. As youth, sometime we can’t force the way as our senior did. Our generation nowadays has different frame of mind. We are now as GenerationY and Z. What is that? First, Generation Y is people who was born on range 1980-1990s. Second, Generation Z is people who was orn on range 1990-2000s.
Why I should write and share this article to you? Because I want you to imagine live effectively when transportation is going smooth without traffic jam. So cool, isn’t it? Indonesia still in a process to provide better transportation for public. Roads are never enough to greedy users with no progressive taxation in using private vehicles. You can buy 1 or 2, or even more vehicles, but not time. You can purchase gasoline but not time. Won’t you be friend of time? Stop blaming and try to be part of solution.
Again, I always say that experience talks better. I want to you did like what I did by taking meters for walking everyday and using public transport and try to analyze your daily time. For example, I did this since I was junior high school. Making daily notes in managing time. Try to spend one hour until two hours to wake up earlier than other friends. It continued until now. Fortunately, habits do not lie the results. Though it seems foolish way to make the habits, I found something that my next generation do not need to do it because public transport is there, everywhere. That is why I did some researches along my higher education on it. I support the urban technologies work to help people aware on their daily plan. Think the destinations, predict time more precisely, attend more beneficial occasion without worrying to be late, and even know position of public vehicle when it is waited.
I take a consideration that transportation actually not only a technical approach, but how we ouch public mindset on this limited time and space. Limited? Yes. You can not make a wider road without changing any zones close to it. How about time? Because time can not be changed. If you loose your five minutes, it means you really loose t. You can not call back it whenever you want. Jobs, education, social activities, and everything need time. Need guide to make it effective and efficient. This background encourage me and my team to promote real time system for mobility into some international competition or papers, one the latest is SmartJak, a smart apps to find the effective track in Sudirman Street corridor, in 2015.
Another research is about real time system for Trans Jogja in Yogyakarta. It is a model of bus rapid transit in this smart city. In the context of urban planning, real time system could attract people more understand space better because users are forced to make habits in learning the map and spot of destination. Where is the destination, how the process to go, which spots he/she will pass, and what kind of amenities he/she could find on the spots if any. Yogyakarta Special Region is one of leading city n Indonesia to promote this system called mTransport DIY. But, research shows that this system is more suit for Generation Y and Z who will grow in 2020 (IT has been adapted to these generations’ life) especially people with less than 20 years old aged now.
Youth of these generations have more dynamic of life, think more precisely of having fun and wealth, and can’t be patience on getting something. Just imagine if transport is still getting slow, like snail? We do not need it. Wake up! This is era that needs many explorations to make youth grow. Save the future of youth could be done by providing no traffic jam in the city and of course affordable transport in the village or remote area. Let them find dreamed jobs by bus that taking them to workplace safely. Let them go to school on time by convenient shuttle to their dream making place. Let them share their stories by attending social art in a public space easily by knowing where the train can take them on time to the city. Or let them be real person by providing them public transport that take them to amazing place, either highland or beautiful beach. All about nothing if traffic jam is still exist. No more romance of life human can take by a traffic “trap” in wasting time. Time is so precious like you need to be happy. How to reach this? Make sure youth nowadays put attention, huge attention on “eradicating” traffic jam! Let’s make a history.
