Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, (July 22, 2005) Jakarta, Indonesia: Transportation experts on Thursday welcomed the city's plan to impose progressive taxes on cars and motorcycles and urged the administration to use the funds collected from higher taxes to expedite the development of a public transportation system in the capital.

"The administration must ensure that taxes collected from car owners be used to expedite the improvement of public transportation ... Otherwise, such a policy would fail to attain the desired objectives of encouraging people to switch from private cars to public transportation," chairman of the Indonesia Transportation Society Bambang Susantono told The Jakarta Post.

Bambang said that the basic idea of progressive taxes was to make people pay the "true cost of driving."

"People using private cars must pay more than people who use public transportation since motorists take up more road space for their cars, contribute more to air pollution and consume subsidized fuel," he said.

Similarly, City Transportation Council (DTK) chairman Soetanto Soehodho said the funds collected from the taxes should be managed transparently so that the public could monitor whether or not the funds were being used for improving public transportation.

"An immediate improvement in public transportation is vital as an alternative to private car owners who are willing to use public transportation and leave their cars at home," said the director of Center for Transportation Studies with the University of Indonesia.

Many transportation experts have said that the ideal means of transportation to solve the entire traffic headache in the capital is a Mass Rapid Transit system. However, this would require enormous investment. The MRT project was first floated in the 1970s and later during the administration of governor Surjadi Soedirdja.

The project, which would have cost US$800 million for the basic infrastructure and an additional $300 million to $400 million for rolling stock, was postponed after the financial crisis struck the country in 1997.

City Revenue Agency Agusman Badarudin revealed Wednesday that the administration was preparing higher vehicular taxes, which will be imposed on residents or individuals who have more than one vehicle, be it a car or motorcycle.

The policy is a follow-up to an instruction issued by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on July 12 on energy conservation.

"Hopefully, higher taxes imposed will discourage people from using private cars and therefore reduce fuel consumption in the capital," he said.

The taxes would only target private cars and motorcycles and not the owners of public transportation vehicles.

City Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo said the level of tax would be based on the kind of vehicle -- four-wheeled vehicle or two-wheeled --, brand, engine capacity and vehicle lifespan.

The taxes will be set at 25 percent of the latest sales value of the particular vehicle (NJKB).

"We won't wait any longer to start implementing these taxes," Fauzi said.