The World's Most Traffic-Snarled City Tries a New Fix: Sidewalks

Jakarta isn’t exactly a friendly place for pedestrians. The Indonesian megacity of 10 million is low on parks, sidewalks, and crosswalks: the narrow road shoulders that are available for ambulation are riddled with tree roots and open sewer covers; food carts, parked vehicles, and aggressive drivers butt into these contested walkways at will. Crossing the street involves raising a prayerful hand against a roaring gush of motorcycles, taxis, and tuk-tuks, and just striding into the right of way, in the hope that the vehicles will slow down.

The Indonesian capital is crippled by some of the worst traffic in the world, according to a few global indexes. And, based on my brief visit to Jakarta last week, that seems like a convincing ranking. Indonesian President Joko Widodo said earlier this year that the urban region’s notorious congestion drains the national economy $4 billion, annually, in wasted gas, health problems, and gaps in productivity.