Better services before hike, say passengers<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Wawan (not his real name), has had to spend more money on his
\ndaily commute than he really needs to, because the bus along the
\nroute from his home does not follow its designated course,
\nforcing him and fellow passengers to take other public
\ntransportation vehicles to reach their destinations.<\/p>\n
\"Every day, I take the Kopaja B93 bus plying the Cengkareng-
\nTanah Abang route, but the driver makes a U-turn at Roxy, West
\nJakarta, which means that I have to take a separate minivan to
\nreach my stall in Tanah Abang,\" he told The Jakarta Post on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
An apparel trader at the market, Wawan spends Rp 2,000 (22
\nU.S. cents) to get to his workplace, while in fact, he would have
\nspent only half this amount if the bus driver had followed his
\nroute.<\/p>\n
Bus drivers abandoning their routes is but one example of how
\nbus operators in Jakarta have failed to serve their passengers.<\/p>\n
Turning a blind eye to such poor services that have yet to be
\nimproved, bus operators under the Organization of Land
\nTransportation Owners (Organda) recently demanded a 50-percent
\nincrease in bus fares and threatened to suspend operations if the
\ndemand was not met.<\/p>\n
\"It has been like this for the last five years,\" Wawan said,
\nreferring to the undisciplined bus drivers who drop off
\npassengers before completing their routes.<\/p>\n
He said that the first time the driver deviated from the usual
\nroute, he struck up an argument with the bus crew, who
\nreluctantly found another bus that would give him a free ride.<\/p>\n
\"But over time, they have simply stopped caring about their
\npassengers and we are tired of arguing with them after all these
\nyears. So we end up finding other buses to get to our
\ndestination,\" Wawan said with dismay.<\/p>\n
He went on to say that the same thing happened when he went
\nhome from work at night.<\/p>\n
\"I take the Kopaja B95 bus plying the route from Tanah Abang
\nto Kalideres in West Jakarta, but the driver does not go farther
\nthan Cengkareng.<\/p>\n
\"This means that those who live in Kalideres must take another
\nbus (from Cengkareng) to get home,\" he said, adding that
\npassengers had to take three different public transportation
\nvehicles from Tanah Abang to the Kalideres bus terminal, instead
\nof the usual two.<\/p>\n
Given the excessive transportation costs resulting from
\ndelinquent bus drivers, Wawan said that his neighbors in
\nCengkareng -- a couple who also owns a stall at Tanah Abang
\nMarket -- had decided to move to Kota Bambu in Central Jakarta, a
\nneighborhood which is adjacent to the market.<\/p>\n
There is not much passengers can do about the fact that some
\npublic transportation vehicles refuse to complete their routes,
\nsaid an elderly man on board a Tanah Abang-Senen bus.<\/p>\n
\"If there are only two passengers left on the bus, and the bus
\nis only halfway to the bus terminal, the driver can easily drop
\nthem off. If the passengers are lucky, the conductor will find
\nthem another bus,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
He added that traffic jams had also forced bus drivers to
\nabandon their routes.<\/p>\n
\"Some buses on the route from Grogol in West Jakarta to
\nKampung Rambutan in East Jakarta often make a U-turn at Cawang,
\nEast Jakarta, because of the heavy congestion along the way to
\nthe terminal,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
Many passengers agree that route violations go unheeded by bus
\noperators, who do not pay attention to the rights of passengers
\nin getting decent services.<\/p>\n
\"Organda has done nothing to improve service for passengers,
\nso their demand for a fare increase is unjustifiable,\" Wawan
\nconcluded.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/better-services-before-hike-say-passengers-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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