JAKARTA. The Jakarta Transportation Agency will start to implement a parking meter system on Jl. Agus Salim, popularly known as Jl. Sabang, in Central Jakarta, on Friday.

The agency’s parking unit head, Sunardi Sinaga, said his team had installed 11 parking meters on Thursday evening, following delivery of the equipment earlier in the day. “They have arrived in Jakarta and we settled the administrative matters at the customs office by noon, so we can install them today. We are going to launch the parking meter system on Friday morning,” Sunardi told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

He said there had been no particular reason behind the decision to pick Jl. Agus Salim, which is popular at night as a culinary center, as the first site for the system.

“There is no particular reason [...] It is just that the area is relatively manageable and easier to supervise. The street is normally packed too,” he said, adding that the city would implement the system in other areas in the near future.

The agency has set the parking rate at Rp 5,000 (41 US cents) per hour for four-wheeled vehicles and Rp 2,000 per hour for motorcycles.

“We will temporarily use Rp 1,000 and Rp 500 coins. We will set up operator [booths] so that motorists can change their money into coins,” he said, adding that in future, the agency aimed to replace coin payment with electronic money.

After paying at the meter, motorists will get a receipt which should be stuck on the vehicle.  (Sita W. Dewi)

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie