Tuesday 5 June 2007

Kuningan Central Station



PROJECT DATA

Project Name
Kuningan Central Station
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
Status
Design Development
Expected Completion
2008 (Green Line);
2010 (Blue Line)
Gross Floor Area
2,700 m2 (includes stairs, bridge, concourse and platform)
Client/Owner
PT. Jakarta Monorail
Architecture Firm
Baskoro Tedjo in association with Hepta Design and PDW
Principal Architect
Baskoro Tedjo
Main Contractor
PT. Adhi Karya
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer
PT. Adhi Karya
Civil & Structural Engineer
PT. Adhi Karya
Images/Photos
Hepta Design




Jakarta’s two-line Monorail system is part of a multi-pronged effort to alleviate congestion in Indonesia’s capital city. The planned Monorail consists of two lines: the green line will circle the business and trading district; the blue line will cross that same area of the city. Once operational, the system is expected to carry some 120,000 passengers on a daily basis.

The design for the green line’s Kuningan Central Station is driven by two main factors: first, it will take on a significant visual role in the city’s streetscape; and secondly, as an open structure, it has to consider Jakarta’s tropical climate. As one of the larger stations in the two-line monorail system, it will also act as a prototype for other stations along the line.

The monorail at Kuningan Central Station is elevated above Rasuna Street in the business district, with the station occupying the space above a median strip separating traffic lanes. At 16 metres high and 60 metres long, the station must compete visually with the area’s large buildings. With that in mind, the designers sought to reduce the size of the building mass, making it as transparent and light as possible.



As the stations are really more shelters than enclosed buildings, the designers also wanted to make sure that the station itself, the waiting areas and the access bridges were all open and incorporated into the street to not change the character of street life.

They sought inspiration for the structure from a tree, with the design filtering out sunlight and creating shade at street level. A layered roof functions as the top of the tree, cooling down the hot air as it flows through the building. (To reduce costs, other stations will have a different roof structure.)

The station’s structure is made of light concrete and steel to occupy as little space as possible while also being earthquake proof.

Construction of the Monorail is slated to start in the first quarter of 2007. The green line is expected to be operational in 2008; the blue line in 2010. –Erwin Maulana/Christen Jamar

© Copyright 2007 FuturArc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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Jakarta’s Transportation Future



Now that the Jakarta bus rapid transit (BRT) system is deemed a success, the government looks to other transportation systems to create a comprehensive city network that takes the pressure off the city’s overloaded roadways.

Monorail
Construction on the Monorail project is to start in 2007. The system will comprise two lines, designated by colour, that aim to alleviate congestion in Jakarta’s business district. The Blue line will run for 13.5 kilometres and have 15 stations; the Green Line will circle the district for 14.3 kilometres with 16 stations.

MRT
Construction is slated to start in 2010, running along the north-south corridor of the city. The subway train will run for 19 kilometres and will have the capacity to carry 45,000 passengers per hour, each direction.

Waterways Transport
Jakarta has over 13 rivers that are wide enough to be used for waterway transport. This transport development is hoped to stimulate the city’s waterfront spaces and attract tourism, while preserving Jakarta’s rivers and canals. There are currently plans for six main waterway lanes, providing 61 kilometres of transport.

Hub Station
Dukuh Atas in South Jakarta will become the city’s main integrated transportation hub, interfacing with the LRT (the existing commuter train), MRT, Monorail, Waterways and Busway.

(Taken From: http://www.futurarc.com/this_edition/busway_moves.cfm)
© Copyright 2007 FuturArc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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Busway Moves



Jakarta’s bus rapid transit system offers hope for the rest of the city’s gridlocked transport network


By Erwin Maulana and Christen Jamar

Getting around in Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta can take so long that web sites have sprung up giving tips on what you can do while stuck in traffic: read or learn a foreign language are among the suggestions. Still others offer advice: make sure you have plenty of water; if you are with children, take some entertainment.

With driving speeds averaging less than 15 kilometres an hour during peak times, and average commutes taking well over an hour, it is no wonder people are looking for ways to kill time.

The city suffers from problems experienced in developing urban centres not only in Asia but worldwide. As the focal point of the Indonesian economy, a combination of urban migration and growing access to cars have created a nasty snarl of traffic as Jakarta’s nearly 9 million residents try to get around the city. Bring in the out-of-town commuters, estimated to swell the city’s population on a daily basis by three million people, and you’ve got the makings of an incessant and impenetrable traffic jam.

Among the many unwelcome side effects of such an unsustainable transportation network are a depressed quality of life, lower productivity and, most importantly, unhealthy air quality.

“Jakarta’s transportation conditions today are approaching crisis level,” asserts Sutanto Soehodho, chairman of the Jakarta City Transportation Council (DTK-J), an urban transport stakeholder organisation, in an interview with FuturArc. He says that Jakarta's main form of public transportation—the city bus system—is currently utilized by only two percent of the population. That is because the buses are over-crowded and uncomfortable; the other form of public transport, a light rail, provides dismal service and an inconvenient network. As a result, most people prefer the solitude and personal space of their cars, even if it means waking up earlier

There have been regular efforts to expand the road network, but ultimately, transport experts say, energy should be directed at cutting down the number of cars. According to Sutanto, the length of the road network increases by one percent each year, while vehicle use is climbing 11 percent annually. If they continue at that rate, he says, “Jakarta will totally collapse in traffic” by 2014.

Finally, in 2004, the government released a blueprint for Jakarta transportation planning, called the Jakarta Macro Transportation Scheme (JMaTS). The plan includes efforts to limit car usage, such as increasing public parking costs, congestion pricing, and the 3-in-1 system (in high-traffic zones, each car must be transporting at least three people). It also includes some road infrastructure improvements, such as widening some roads and building flyovers and underpasses. The scheme’s major infrastructure projects include light rail transit lines (the Monorail) and a subway (MRT). The government is also looking at the city’s waterways for transport.

In the past couple years, though, the city’s public transport golden child has been the TransJakarta Busway, a dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) line operating on specific city corridors. Launched amid much criticism in 2004, the system has turned out to be an enormous success. It currently carries 100,000 passengers a day, triple the amount it was carrying when it started. Surveys have indicated that 14 percent of Busway riders used to drive; and 80 percent of people asked said they would switch to the Busway system if it was accessible.

Its popularity has led to a rapid expansion—after the first line was launched in 2004, another two started operating in 2005, and yet another four in January of this year. By 2010 the government intends to have 15 corridors in operation, covering a total length of 159 kilometres, according to the DTK-J.

The reasons for the Busway’s success are clear. First, it is an easy, and perhaps more importantly, cheap system to get up and running quickly—the construction required is limited to building shelters and physically separating the bus’s lane from the rest of vehicle traffic. The shelters are clean; the buses are comfortable and are more-fuel efficient. The system has been integrated into the light rail (LRT) coming in from the suburbs and with inter-city bus stations in Jakarta’s suburban towns. Plans are in place to integrate the system further with the monorail, subway and water-based transport systems.

Sutanto agrees the Busway is the best way of alleviating traffic quickly in Jakarta. “One bus can carry 80 people. Sixty-five cars would be needed to carry the same number of people,” he says.



The Busway, he says, is a “compromising technology,” providing a solution that provides immediate relief and gives the city time and money to develop the rail-based systems gradually. “We cannot implement expensive technology in a short time. We don’t want to implement high technology if the people cannot afford the ticket,” he says. He hopes in the future that affordable rail projects will take further pressure off the roads. In fact, he says, the planned north-south MRT subway line is actually intended to replace the Corridor 1 Busway line.

But the Busway has had some growing pains. The system includes feeder buses to give access to people who are not within range of Busway corridors. However, the feeder buses are the more expensive express buses, so while the Busway itself is cheap, getting to it can be costly. Also, there are not enough feeder buses, nor do they run promptly enough, to ensure the optimal use of the Busway system. That has led some to say expansion plans should be put on hold until the feeder systems for the current Busway corridors are optimised.

Also, according to Sutanto, there remain larger, more institutional challenges to the city’s transportation planning. First, Sutanto points out that the JMaTS is only a series of recommendations at this point. “(It) has to be government policy. We need (legislation) to ensure the sustainability of transport development.” Establishing one single independent transportation authority that brings together all the stakeholders—including police, public works, city transport authorities, consumers, and users—would make planning more efficient, he adds.

Still, the TransJakarta Busway—and the rest of the JMaTS—demonstrate initiative on the part of government and the private sector to come up with creative solutions to the city’s gridlock. The system, which followed a similar transport solution in Bogota, Colombia, has become the model of improving public transportation quickly for cities elsewhere in Indonesia and Asia. Bangkok, for one, is looking into developing a bus rapid transit system.

So even though there may be some hitches in the system, the Busway offers residents hope that in the future they may not think of the daily commute as a time to catch up on old correspondence.

(Taken From: http://www.futurarc.com/this_edition/busway_moves.cfm)
© Copyright 2007 FuturArc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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