By Agnes Winarti
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post
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Saturday, June 16, 2012
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With the almost non-existent public infrastructure for bicycles, the growing number of vehicles on the roads and motorists’ low level of tolerance, to name just a few hurdles, the implementation of the Bike to School program is a hard sell indeed.
“The bike to school program is only realistic for junior high school students who live just a stone’s throw from their schools,” junior high school (SMP) PGRI 2 Denpasar headmaster I Gede Wenten Ariyasudha told Bali Daily on Thursday.
“Other than that, I believe parents’ priority will be their children’s safety. Letting the children bike through the bustling main roads for long distances would not be an option,” said Ariyasudha. The school has about 1,600 students, 200 of whom cycle to school daily, while most others are picked up by their parents from homes as far away as the Batubulan area in neighboring Gianyar regency.
The Bike to School program, an effort to reduce traffic jams and create a less-polluted environment, was initially launched in 2010 by the Denpasar-based bicycling community SAMAS, and was supported by the Denpasar municipal administration. Last year, SMP PGRI 2 welcomed SAMAS’ Bike to School campaign. This year, SAMAS secretary Endra Datta said that the community had also been campaigning at junior high schools, including SMP Dwijendra, SMP 1 Ubud, SMP 8, and senior high school SMA 1 Ubud.
Since 2009, Denpasar has only provided 20 kilometers of special cycling lanes, which cover Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Raya Puputan, Jl. Tjok Agung Tresna to Jl. Hang Tuah and Jl. Danau Tamblingan in Sanur. However, the lanes cover only a miniscule part of the route required for the 58 junior high schools and 45 senior high schools around the capital. Also, the lanes can’t be properly used, as they are often full of parked cars, not to mention that cyclists have to compete for space against motorcyclists who dominate the main streets of Denpasar.
Last year’s data from the Denpasar Transportation Agency’s traffic division showed that the streets of the capital city were packed with 575,111 motorcycles, the number of which has grown rapidly throughout the years. In 2010, there were 492,285 motorcycles on the streets of Denpasar, while in 2009, there were only 457,772.
Even the prestigious state senior high school, SMA Negeri 3 Denpasar, that had a compulsory policy for 30 years obliging all its students to bike to school, has now surrendered this policy and has allowed students to ride motorcycles since 2006.
The school might have won the 2012 Adiwiyata Nasional award from the Environment Ministry for its numerous environmental efforts, such as waste sorting, composting, making biopore holes and building greenhouses for plants, as well as academic writings and films on the environment, but it currently has to rent a 2,500 square meter plot of land to continue expanding its parking lot for its students’ motorcycles.
“The consideration to terminate our compulsory policy for students to cycle to school initially surfaced in 1992. We were overwhelmed performing daily raids on the students, who secretly rode motorbikes to school,” said teacher Anak Agung Ayu Sri Adi, who is also the school’s environment coordinator.
The bike to school policy was terminated in 2006, with the claim that it would ease the journey for students coming from homes more than 10 kilometers away in Kuta, Jimbaran, Sukowati, Peguyangan, as well as Singapadu. “We are still urging those living nearby to bike to school, but now almost all of them drive motorbikes,” Sri Adi said.
Only about 10 students at SMA 3 still routinely cycle to school every day, while the other 851 students in the 10th grade to 12th grade ride their own motorbikes, despite the fact that it is illegal to have a driving license below the age of 17.
And what do the students have to say about Bike to School?
“Studying at class covered in sweat won’t be convenient. Besides, when it’s time for us to return home, at noon, it’s hot and the streets are too crowded with motorcycles. So it’s better we ride our own,” said 11th grader Putu Sri Adnyasari, 17, who has been driving her own motorbike since 10th grade and lives just about 1.5 kilometers from school.
Another student, Diah Gayatri, 16, who drives without license, said, “I have too many activities after school. Riding a motorcycle saves my time and energy, I couldn’t bike all the way.”
Most students also said that having no driving license was not a problem, as long as they knew how to avoid streets where traffic police were on watch. Some parents even slip Rp 20,000 notes in their children’s motorbike STNK (vehicle registration card), so that the child can use the money to bribe the police, just in case they are caught.
“It happens,” regretted teacher Sri Adi, highlighting just another attitude that will block the realization of the Bike to School program.
“The bike to school program is only realistic for junior high school students who live just a stone’s throw from their schools,” junior high school (SMP) PGRI 2 Denpasar headmaster I Gede Wenten Ariyasudha told Bali Daily on Thursday.
“Other than that, I believe parents’ priority will be their children’s safety. Letting the children bike through the bustling main roads for long distances would not be an option,” said Ariyasudha. The school has about 1,600 students, 200 of whom cycle to school daily, while most others are picked up by their parents from homes as far away as the Batubulan area in neighboring Gianyar regency.
The Bike to School program, an effort to reduce traffic jams and create a less-polluted environment, was initially launched in 2010 by the Denpasar-based bicycling community SAMAS, and was supported by the Denpasar municipal administration. Last year, SMP PGRI 2 welcomed SAMAS’ Bike to School campaign. This year, SAMAS secretary Endra Datta said that the community had also been campaigning at junior high schools, including SMP Dwijendra, SMP 1 Ubud, SMP 8, and senior high school SMA 1 Ubud.
Since 2009, Denpasar has only provided 20 kilometers of special cycling lanes, which cover Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Raya Puputan, Jl. Tjok Agung Tresna to Jl. Hang Tuah and Jl. Danau Tamblingan in Sanur. However, the lanes cover only a miniscule part of the route required for the 58 junior high schools and 45 senior high schools around the capital. Also, the lanes can’t be properly used, as they are often full of parked cars, not to mention that cyclists have to compete for space against motorcyclists who dominate the main streets of Denpasar.
Last year’s data from the Denpasar Transportation Agency’s traffic division showed that the streets of the capital city were packed with 575,111 motorcycles, the number of which has grown rapidly throughout the years. In 2010, there were 492,285 motorcycles on the streets of Denpasar, while in 2009, there were only 457,772.
Even the prestigious state senior high school, SMA Negeri 3 Denpasar, that had a compulsory policy for 30 years obliging all its students to bike to school, has now surrendered this policy and has allowed students to ride motorcycles since 2006.
The school might have won the 2012 Adiwiyata Nasional award from the Environment Ministry for its numerous environmental efforts, such as waste sorting, composting, making biopore holes and building greenhouses for plants, as well as academic writings and films on the environment, but it currently has to rent a 2,500 square meter plot of land to continue expanding its parking lot for its students’ motorcycles.
“The consideration to terminate our compulsory policy for students to cycle to school initially surfaced in 1992. We were overwhelmed performing daily raids on the students, who secretly rode motorbikes to school,” said teacher Anak Agung Ayu Sri Adi, who is also the school’s environment coordinator.
The bike to school policy was terminated in 2006, with the claim that it would ease the journey for students coming from homes more than 10 kilometers away in Kuta, Jimbaran, Sukowati, Peguyangan, as well as Singapadu. “We are still urging those living nearby to bike to school, but now almost all of them drive motorbikes,” Sri Adi said.
Only about 10 students at SMA 3 still routinely cycle to school every day, while the other 851 students in the 10th grade to 12th grade ride their own motorbikes, despite the fact that it is illegal to have a driving license below the age of 17.
And what do the students have to say about Bike to School?
“Studying at class covered in sweat won’t be convenient. Besides, when it’s time for us to return home, at noon, it’s hot and the streets are too crowded with motorcycles. So it’s better we ride our own,” said 11th grader Putu Sri Adnyasari, 17, who has been driving her own motorbike since 10th grade and lives just about 1.5 kilometers from school.
Another student, Diah Gayatri, 16, who drives without license, said, “I have too many activities after school. Riding a motorcycle saves my time and energy, I couldn’t bike all the way.”
Most students also said that having no driving license was not a problem, as long as they knew how to avoid streets where traffic police were on watch. Some parents even slip Rp 20,000 notes in their children’s motorbike STNK (vehicle registration card), so that the child can use the money to bribe the police, just in case they are caught.
“It happens,” regretted teacher Sri Adi, highlighting just another attitude that will block the realization of the Bike to School program.
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