JAKARTA, Indonesia — It’s hard to imagine a city less amenable to bicycling than Indonesia’s capital, a place of perpetual gridlock, an exploding number of daredevil motorcyclists and little respect for traffic lanes.
But a nascent bike culture lies beneath the mayhem, and in a bid to help it flower, the city has mandated two car-free Sundays a month in downtown Jakarta.
On those days, Sudirman Street and its circular fountain are lined with bike-repair tents, pop singers and food vendors. Bike-club members in colorful jerseys roam the streets or show off the custom jobs popular among the young and hip — the single-speed “fixies,” with color-coordinated wheels and chains, or the chopper-style lowriders.
“It’s a hip-hop thing,” said Ray Iskander, a member of the Sweet Iron Lowriders, a Jakarta club whose members were wheeling their decked-out rides around the plaza one recent car-free day.
Jakarta is not the only city in the region with traffic woes. The decline of the bike is a long- standing fact in Asia’s hubs, whose residents abandon that healthy, pollution-free habit for the speed and status of a car or motorcycle as incomes rise.
