On the good side, though, you can find many types of public transportations in Jakarta. Some of them are quite comfy, while others just plain "dusty & dangerous". So, it would be best for you to read this part of the guides so you don't stuck on those last kind I mentioned.
So, here are Jakarta's public transportation :
1. Ojek, you can read it "O Jack". We started from the smallest one. Ojek is a motorcycle kind of taxi. It can bring you wherever you wanna go, for a price. For me, there are three kinds of Ojek driver. The good, The bad, and The ugly. The good ojek driver will give you the best price, a safe drive, rented you a helmet you can put on, and sometimes made a good dialogue with you. When you've arrived on destination, he will smile at you and wish you good luck. While the bad ones do the exact opposite of him.
Ojek Driver
The "Ugly" Ojek driver is the worst among three, and yes, they are still exist. They will go against the road stream, ignore traffic lights, and Spit some curses against other road drivers, which unintentionally can drive faster than them. I'm not making this up, if you stay in Jakarta, you'll obviously encounter one of these bad boys on the street. I suggest you simply ignore them, you'll waste your time just to pay them attention.
Ojek drivers can be found almost in all areas of Jakarta. It's because of their slim dan relatively small figure, they can move faster through the traffic. You may use them if you are in a hurry, in exchange of your own safety, of course. Just kidding, it's not that bad actually. Some of them are pretty nice, but I don't suggest you to try it if you are in Jakarta for the first time.
2. Bajaj
After 2-wheels vehicle, here comes the 3-wheelers called Bajaj. Believe it or not, it's one of the oldest type of transportation in Jakarta. They contributed like.. half of the total air pollution in Jakarta. Haha. Let me describe it for you. It has a scooter machine, very very noisy. One of my cousin got less hearing capability after everyday riding in a bajaj for a full month. It's body made of old steel (well, it's actually just steel, but most bajaj were produced before 1980, makes it old)
The smoke produced by bajaj also considered dangerous, hazardous for health. Local government has change the diesel fueled bajaj into LPG fueled bajaj for the past few years but still, it doesn't do much. Anyway, bajaj has a few advantage compared to ojek, because now you are sheltered from heat and rain. Which is pretty nice, since Jakarta is an extremely hot and cold town.
Another things you need to know is when you are driving behind bajaj, not "inside" it, Be very careful because just as local jokes always say, "Only God knows when a bajaj need to turn or stopped", and "When a bajaj gotta turn, it gotta turn". Lastly, as a passenger, you can never ask the driver to stop by mouth words. Just tap into his right or left shoulder to make it stop, and it'l stop.... immediately at the moment, without looking back. So, you are the one who has to make sure that it is safe to stop. Okay? Have fun.
3. Kancil
The advance form of bajaj came out at 2006 in form of Kancil. 'Kancil' actually came from many local folklore, known as a very smart yet naughty animal. Kancil serve as a safer and healthier vehicle. You even could buy it as a personal transportation if you like. There's also a bonus fan inside to ensure you feel a little cooler under the heat of Jakarta's sun.
But contrary to bajaj, which you can find almost all around Jakarta, Kancil is located mostly in houses complex. To provide a cheap n healthy type of short spaced transportation. I never had a chance to try one before, so I couldn't really describe to you how is it feel inside. So, if you have tried it, please give me a story.
4. Microlet
Actually there are many types of Microlet in Jakarta, which serves different route. I am not suggesting you to try these transportation if you are still not familiar with Jakarta's road route. You might get confused, ended up in an unknown terminal, or worse. Although they have a pretty cheap price (around Rp 2000 - Rp 4000) , the Microlet is well known for their "uneducated" mannerism.
What makes me says that? Well, first of all, they stopped wherever they like, whenever they like and... as long as they like. Most Microlet or as local tongue called "Angkot", an acronym for ANGkutan KOTa or City Transportation, has no safety precations for their passenger, which make it dangerous when combined with impatient behaviour of the driver. Yes, they are one of the main cause of Jakarta's Traffic Jam. We hate it, but we need it. A total irony.
5. Taxi
When you talk about taxi, actually there are only two biggest player in these industry. The Blue Bird Group, (known by the blue color of their taxi), and Express Group (Their taxi color is white, and lately they offer the exclusive class of taxi using super luxury Toyota Alphard)
Blue bird, known for their safety performance, already has a good name in taxi Industries since 10 years ago. Their excellence service and on time schedule considered number one in Jakarta. Although lately they has dropped their standards, but compared to other taxi services, they are still better. Blue bird Group also has "Pusaka", their regular taxi, the Silver and Golden Bird, for higher class taxi. And Big Bird, from sesame street. Nope, just joking, "Big Bird" here was a bus rental service provided by Blue Bird Group. Search them online if you need thir services.
Express Taxi on other hand is a cheaper alternative for you. But don't judge the price 'cause their service is excellence too. Now that's the attractive value, right? Same good service with lower price, who wouldn't want that?
Well, for a first timer in Jakarta, I'm suggesting you to take only these cab options. Yup, there are some other good taxi services, but take it by you own risk. You can easily find taxis around Jakarta's hotels. Or if can't find one, simply browse or call.
6. Minibus & Bus
There are a lot. and I mean A LOT lot of buses and minibuses in Jakarta. It is one of the main daily public transportation for most of Jakarta's people. You may imagine being in a bus is like being in a can, full of people, kinda hard to breathe, exhausting, sweating, and so on. Well, it does happened in some buses. In busy hours from 9.00 AM to 6.00 PM, you'd likely to be trapped in those situation.
Anyway, buses have routes, just like microlets. And also similar to their smaller brother, the bus drivers in Jakarta also share the same 'method' of driving. Reckless, speedy, it's like almost all bus driver have to take anger management lesson. Every bus drivers usualy has a sidekick, called "Kenek", his job is to collect money from passenger. You can also ask the direction to these Keneks. But remember they don't understand non-Indonesian language, so, you'd better just said the location and hope other passenger understand what you mean.
For beginners, I really am suggesting you to avoid using public busses. Except you really really understand the route, and you have a guide with you. Otherwise, you'll end up confused.
Actually, not everything is bad. Sometimes (or often in some routes) you'll find entertainment specialist on the bus. We called it "pengamen". They are road singers, sometimes with a guitar, sometimes they use only tambourine, or nothing, just plain singing. Don't be surprised if you find some of them actually have a really good voice. One, have made it into Indonesian Idol champion in 2008.
Here are some of them:
Well, why am I talking about them here??? Just skip this and read the next section..
7. Transjakarta
Now, THIS is the newest yet the most popular transportation nowdays in Jakarta.
My personal opinion when I first get into this Big Bus is... "Hmm... Nice. Finally Jakarta has a proper and cheap transportation for its locals" But then now, three years after that, I don't think I still have the same impression.
For one thing, it is still the most comfortable bus amongst all of the same type. But the problem is, every people in Jakarta seems to get into it and THAT is what makes it uncomfortable anymore as a public transportation. You have to stand along the road when it's full. But the main problem doesn't lie there.
You see, it's the waiting period on the terminal that usually gets on nerve. The number of buses available seem too few to serve on a daily long route. You may visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransJakarta if you need any guide about the route.
It's free of road singers, beggars, and also road merchant. Also an information for you, there are no toilets inside the terminal also in the bus. So, you need to pay a visit the toilet first if you're going on a long route.
And that sums up all kinds of public transportations in Jakarta. Some that I don't mention in here like "Andong", "Becak". and some traditional "bemo" are actually planned to be removed by the local governments, so we'll talk about it some other times.
My personal reccomendation for the first timer are either you take a taxi, or transjakarta busway. Don't bother other types because you may as well get lost. If you need to ask anything about the route or places in Jakarta, feel free to ask me. Okay?
Have a nice visit, now I need to go have some dinner. More posts coming Up... :) Sphere: Related Content
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