Making TransJakarta a World Class BRT System - ITDP | Institute for ...

That being said, even after reconstruction,
where the new pedestrian facilities have
been rebuilt, the lateral streets are still
difficult to cross in some locations. For
example, at Sarinah’s, crossing K.H.Wahid
Hasyim remains difficult and unsafe. Free
left turns at the traffic signal are the biggest
problem. This could be tolerated if the
turning ratios were tighter, but as they are
currently designed, vehicles turn at very
high speeds. At such high turning speeds,
there is virtually no safe period to cross.
In many locations pedestrian refuge islands
could be constructed (as illustrated right)
without any adverse impact on mixed
traffic flow.
The on and off ramps at the flyovers are also places of considerable danger for crossing
pedestrians. The turning ratios on the access ramps could be sharpened and the crossing
itself could be elevated to slow these turning vehicles.
At-grade pedestrian access to the BRT system should still be considered in the Northern
and Southern most sections of the BRT Corridor. The basic principles for determining
whether or not pedestrian overpasses are necessary are the following:
o The number of lanes that have to be crossed before reaching a pedestrian refuge
(2 is safe at reasonably high speeds, 3 less so)
o The presence or absence of a traffic signal, and how this signal is phased,
(free left turns make it hard to cross even if there is a signal)
o The average vehicle speeds and vehicle flow in the corridor
(lots of vehicles with few gaps obviously makes it harder to cross)
The pedestrian bridges used on Corridor I increase the passenger’s total travel time by 6
minutes (around 12 minutes in equivalent time for each passenger when the discomfort
factor for walking is included). They are particularly inconvenient for the elderly,
children, or anyone carrying packages.
Therefore, there should be a very compelling reason why the surface crossing cannot be
made reasonably safe through changes in the intersection’s physical design and changes
in the signal phasing. While on Jl. Sudirman the travel speeds are sufficiently high, the
road sufficiently wide, and the intersections sufficiently few that pedestrian overpasses
are no doubt necessary. However, from Sarinah’s North, and from the Senayan
roundabout South, with some modest intersection design changes and changes in the
signal phasing (restricting free left turns, adding in some cases lead pedestrian intervals,
Final Recommendations for TransJakarta, p. 87