Yogyakarta, as a student city and a destination for cultural and natural tourism, is confronted by air pollution problems. Last week, Jogja was recorded to have a moderate condition of air quality.
In this condition, people who are considered sensitive are advised to use masks to avoid pollution exposure. Various elements from Yogyakarta citizens strive to find a solution to this problem.
Some people then collaborated to launch the Jogja Lebih Bike Campaign. The Jogja Lebih Bike program aims to increase awareness of Jogja citizens and stakeholders on air pollution. Also, it encourages changes both in policy and community behavior in choosing a more environmentally-friendly transportation mode.
Dr. Arif Wismadi from the Center for Transportation and Logistics Studies at UGM (Pustral UGM) stated along with the rapid increase of engine-driven, mobile sources or land transportation is proven to contribute more than 60 percent of total emissions in Jogja. There are three policy options to overcome this problem: reducing the number or distance of trips, creating technological and efficient innovations, and shifting to environmentally friendly transportation modes.
“Jogja Lebih Bike is absolutely an excellent initiative because it encourages people to make changes to their preference of transportation modes with minimum emissions. As part of the collaboration with Jogja More Bike, UGM Pustral projects a Cycling Feasibility Study, Bikeability Study, ” he said at UGM Pustral on Thursday (18/2).
Citing data from Kompas, Arif revealed that in daily mobility, 88 percent of the people of Yogyakarta are still very reliant on engine-driven vehicles, especially motorbikes, and only 2.6 percent of residents ride bicycles. The Jogja Lebih Bike Initiative is a movement with the community to revive bicycles as part of their daily activities and collectively contribute to creating cleaner air in Jogja.
Therefore, there was also a collaboration from various partners ranging from academics, non-governmental organizations, the cycling community through Jogja Lebih Bike. This program aims to stimulate public conversations about the importance of good air quality and encourage citizens’ participation in producing clean air through cycling activities.
As Kompas Research and Development researcher collaborated to conduct a Public Perception Survey on Air Pollution with Jogja Lebih Bike, Nurul Fatchiati added a survey. She revealed that 500 respondents in Jogja recorded that air pollution was one of the three most important issues for Jogja residents other than handling Covid-19 and crime. Moreover, 62.5 percent of the people living in Jogja admitted that they have bad air quality in their environment. Still, they stay optimistic about restoring the air quality conditions in the next few years.
To help people obtain real-time air quality data, Jogja Lebih Bike also collaborates with Nafas – a startup with the largest air quality sensor network in Indonesia. Through this collaboration, there were five air quality sensors installed at various pollution points in Yogyakarta, namely in Gondolayu (Tugu), Sayidan, Umbulharjo, Janti Bridge, and at the UGM campus.
As a Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Nafas, Piotr Jakubowski said people can easily access the air quality data. Meanwhile, there is still a limitation in real-time data even though air quality data is an important reference for the community in their activities, especially for sensitive groups, such as children, the elderly, and people with respiratory diseases.
“People can easily access the real-time air quality data, and it is a free charge through the Breath application and the Jogja Lebih Bike website,” he said.
Jogja Lebih Bike invited Jogja citizens to accomplish their cycling commitment on the website www.jogjalmorebike.id. In addition to educating the public about air pollution through Instagram and various other activities, this campaign also welcomed cyclists to share their stories through #jogjalebihbike to inspire all Yogyakarta citizens as a way to support this collaborative movement. Jogja Lebih Bike is supported by Kompas Data, Kompas TV, UGM Pustral, Nafas, Srengenge, Sego Segawe Reborn, and more than 24 Jogja cycling communities.
This campaign is urgent to carry out soon because WHO reports 7 million premature deaths related to air pollution worldwide in 2017. Air pollution data from the Ministry of Environment indicates that for six months in 2019, Jogja only had 50 days with good air quality, and the rest of 92 days air quality in Jogja is considered moderate to unhealthy. Meanwhile, in the 2019 Environmental Quality Index report, data showed that air quality in Jogja had decreased in the past five years.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/20777-jogja-lebih-bike-upaya-perbaiki-kualitas-udara-jogja
