Local government leaders in Asia commit to ‘Mobility For All’

“We therefore declare urban mobility as an essential public good.” 

This was the call of local government leaders and party members of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) from six countries expressed as they signed the Mobility For All Manifesto.

Delegates to the CALD Smart Mobility Workshop, which was held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 13-16 July, with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) for Freedom, agreed to the advancement of their constituent’s welfare and development by affirming mobility for all and striving to build cities where people can live safely, healthily, and happily.

Hosted by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and with the theme, “Building Networks and Fostering Smart Mobility Solutions,” the event provided a venue to discuss practical innovations and lessons learned from mobility experts in Indonesia, representing leading transport institutions, namely: Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), GoJek, and Institute for Transportation and Development (ITDP).

The power of political will

Yoga Adiwinarto, vice president for policy engagement and advocacy of ITS and former director for operations of TransJakarta, explained that TransJakarta, one of the largest Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the world, was a result of strong political will, efficiency, and vision of local leaders to attain good public transport. 

TransJakarta currently operates more than four thousand buses in 230 routes and 13 corridors, and caters to 192 million passengers annually. Yoga said that by 2030, the government plans to electrify all public transport. 

“Integration, infrastructure, and the operational system make TransJakarta seamless and useful,” he added. 

Integration fuels efficiency 

“We want to really help customers to get exposed to public transport as much as possible,” said Aditya Brahmana, vice president for Mobility NeXT Products of GoJek, Indonesia’s biggest ride-hailing app.

Aditya explained that GoJek’s goal is to increase public transport ridership by adding commuter-centric features and industry collaborations in digital transactions – leading to the luxury of multimodal experience to address public needs. 

For instance, it is a common challenge for transport operators to handle ticketing for large numbers of passengers accurately and safely. GoJek has started its partnership with public transport operators TransJakarta and KAI Commuter or the Greater Jakarta Commuter Rail in providing unified online ticket systems. As a result, online transactions on KCI or commuter tickets grew three times more, enabling people to go digital. 

Change in mindsets

Political will and integration are results of shifts in mindsets. According to Gonggomtua E. Sitanggang, interim director of ITDP, to ensure public transport is accessible and that inclusivity is mainstreamed in public transport system, “we need to shift our paradigm from prioritizing cars to prioritizing people.”

“This means that we should give priority in terms of facility provisions to transport modes based on its energy usage and emissions per passenger… We should give the highest priority on non-motorized transport such as walking, cycling, and followed by mass public transport system, and the last priority should be given to a private vehicles,” Gonggom emphasized. 

The paradigm shift will result in the reduction of the GC emission and will increase the efficiency of people’s workspace usage.

Consolidating towards next steps

The CALD workshop delegates pledged to the 5-Point Action Plan to transform mobility: 1) mobility as a right; 2) public transportation as a backbone of mobility services; 3) building safe and walkable residential neighborhoods; 4) judicious use of digital technology; and 5) environmental sustainability and decarbonization. 

The leaders committed to ensure the implementation of the 5-point action plan into concrete and contextualized policies, programs, and investments within their respective jurisdictions.

Among the local leaders who signed the manifesto were Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu, Mayor of Semarang, Indonesia, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP); Mochamad Nur Arifin, Mayor of Trenggalek also from PDIP; Romtham Khumnurak, Member of Parliament from the Democrat Party Thailand (DP); Bartolome “Omie” Rivera, Jr., Mayor of San Mateo, Rizal from the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP) and Dennis Hora, Councilor of Panglao, Bohol, also from the LP. 

Party leaders and liberal partners from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore also endorsed the document.  

The Mobility for All manifesto is a framework that aims to guide local governments in developing smart mobility plans that: commit to building sustainable cities; call for urgent action to radically reform transportation; and provide people from all walks of life access to high-quality public transportation.