Beating the Traffic in Indonesia

If you think it’s difficult cycling through British cities, look at this video from Indonesia. Six lanes of traffic bumper to bumper – but it hasn’t stopped some locals taking to their bikes in a bid to beat the traffic.

The traffic problem is so acute in Indonesia that a group of commuters started a ‘bike to work’ project. They said they preferred to arrive at work hot and sweaty rather than late.

Despite the immense challenges of cycling in Indonesia (traffic volumes and lack of proper infrastructure  make it dangerous to cycle – look at how the cyclists cling to the edge of the road) there has been a growth in the number of cyclists taking part in the ‘bike to work’ scheme.

The popularity of cycling has encouraged the Indonesian government to create two ‘traffic free days’ per month which transforms the roads from gridlock to a cyclists’ paradise.

The government did provide some cycle lanes, but these proved to mainly worthless as they were in the part of the city that cyclists didn’t really use (sound familiar?)

Related



One Response to Beating the Traffic in Indonesia

  1. Bali Cycling Tour December 8, 2011 at 2:17 pm #

    they do it one day a week, called car free day.

Leave a Reply


+ 6 = 15