Changing cyclists' second-class citizen status

Jakarta Post

Tired of swearing at the mindless busway projects that have brought Jakarta's traffic to a virtual standstill during "rush hour"?

Something was telling me to leave my car in the garage and go to work by bicycle once or twice a week. Why not? Cycling would surely burn fat and help shift some of this ugly flab around my waist that seems to have grown from sitting for too long amid the sea of immobile cars.

Also, leaving the car in the garage would help the environment, as it would help decrease CO2 emissions. Politicians and environmentalists often preach about the dreadful consequences of climate change, yet they get around the city in cars, too.

The thought of going to work by bicycle just wouldn't stop swimming around in my head. I would stare at my silver secondhand mountain bike I bought at a flea market in 2004 as it sat idle in the carport.

The most difficult thing at first was to beat the laziness out of myself and the lame excuses, like, "Oh, but your office is almost 20 kilometers away", or "What if it rains?", or "Going by bicycle is rather unsophisticated".

I later learned, however, that long-haul cycling on Jakarta's merciless main roads is both fun and adventurous -- albeit sometimes dangerous.

A cyclist's number one enemy is the angkot (public minivan).

Angkot drivers, I discovered, will overtake you, cut you off and suddenly come to a screeching stop right under your nose without bothering to use indicators.

On more than one occasion, angkot drivers have shouted rude words at me for being too "slow", or for not riding close enough to the edge of the road.

Then there is enemy number two: the omnipresent reckless motorcyclists. Like the angkot drivers, motorbikes let out a deafening roar, especially since many do not have mufflers.

Motorists will honk like mad if they get stuck behind a cyclist. Not only are they impatient with your "slower" pace, but they are also afraid, perhaps, that you will lose balance and sideswipe their dear car as they narrowly overtake you.

Indeed, you need the patience of a saint to be a cyclist in Jakarta; a city where you will receive a warm welcome at upscale hotels and shopping malls if you arrive in a flashy car, but will be met with unfriendly stares if you peddle up to the lobby on your bike. Unless you are a foreigner, maybe.

My heart jumped with joy the other day when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the city administration to build special lanes for cyclists. The call comes at a time when skyrocketing oil prices are sending chills down the already-nervous government's spine.

Ah, yes, some of the President's men, like Andi Mallarangeng, and a growing number of political celebrities, are avid cyclists who have joined the Bike to Work Community.

If and when city bureaucrats heed Yudhoyono's call, cyclists might eventually have their second-class citizen status raised. Personally, I am among those who doubt the plan will materialize in the foreseeable future in Jakarta, where the streets have not been designed to accommodate cyclists. This means Jakarta would have to start from the scratch to build suitable facilities.

Equally important is some kind of campaign aimed at improving public awareness about cyclists and why they should be respected just like other road users.

It's a shame Governor "Bang Kumis" Fauzi Bowo hasn't offered more support and provided bicycle lanes along the main streets, as the existing pedestrian sidewalks are far too narrow to be shared with cyclists.

Pessimists joke that bicycles may one day take over the capital's main streets, in which case the infamous city law and order officers would confiscate them and then dump them in Jakarta Bay.

This is what happened with becak (pedicabs) in the 1980s when the then governor Wiyogo sent the human-powered, three-wheeled transportation vehicles to the bottom of the ocean, on the grounds they moved too slowly on the increasingly busy city streets.

Bang Kumis, we need cyclist lanes!

-- Pandaya