JAKARTA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia on Monday launched its autonomous light rail transit (LRT) train to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the highly populated capital Jakarta.
The LRT project spans 41.2 km and costs 32.6 trillion rupiahs (around 2.1 billion U.S. dollars) to cover the cities of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi.
"So that all of our people switch from private transportation to mass transportation," said President Joko Widodo, citing the reasons for building LRT.
He said that the number of vehicles entering the nation's capital daily is approximately 996,000, making Jakarta one of the most congested and polluting cities on earth.
The LRT adds to the variety of public transport options already available in the capital, including the mass rapid transit (MRT), commuter line, Transjakarta bus, as well as the high-speed train linking Bandung in the east with Jakarta which will be launched soon. ■
