Practice makes perfect for rookie busway drivers<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Busway driver Ronny Sugiarto was guided in maneuvering his bus a
\nlittle to the right, releasing the gas pedal and approaching the
\nshelter in front of Al-Azhar Mosque, South Jakarta, on Saturday
\nevening. He finally made a slightly jerky stop.<\/p>\n
\"Still a bit too far,\" said instructor Muhar, as he told Ronny
\nto open the bus' hydraulic door and inspect the distance between
\nthe bus and the shelter's platform.<\/p>\n
A distance of less than 15 centimeters was expected from all
\nthe drivers in training. This is considered to be a safe and
\nconvenient distance for passengers to step from the bus to the
\nshelter's one-meter-high platform.<\/p>\n
\"It's quite difficult. I was afraid I would hit the rear-view
\nmirror, or even worse, scrape the shelter if I maneuvered too far
\nto the right,\" said Ronny.<\/p>\n
Aligning the door of the bus with the shelter's automatic
\ndoors was another difficulty faced by the drivers.<\/p>\n
\"It would really help if there were markers to indicate
\nexactly where we should stop,\" said Sudirman Silitonga, another
\ndriver.<\/p>\n
During the night 126 drivers took a bus for a test-drive, five
\ndays away before Jan. 15, the day the busway is due to hit the
\nroad.<\/p>\n
At all 23 shelters wooden sticks had been set up as temporary
\nmarkers. While they indicated where a Hino bus should stop,
\nseveral of the 20 buses used that night were longer Mercedes-Benz
\nbuses.<\/p>\n
It was also still unclear whether permanent markers would be
\ninstalled later on.<\/p>\n
Many of the drivers had never driven a Mercedes-Benz bus
\nbefore. With only Hino buses available at the National Police
\nTraffic Training Center in Serpong, Tangerang, drivers grappled
\nwith familiarizing themselves with the Mercedes-Benz buses.<\/p>\n
\"But then, even experienced drivers need some time to adjust
\nthemselves to a new type of vehicle,\" said Sanusi, who has over
\n10 years experience as a driver of trucks and buses.<\/p>\n
Another problem for the drivers was apparently the confusing
\ndashboard.<\/p>\n
\"With no conductor to assist us, we really need skill to
\noperate all those dials and controls, while keeping our
\nconcentration on the road,\" said Silitonga.<\/p>\n
Each bus will have a security guard, but their duty will not
\ninclude assisting the driver.<\/p>\n
As training concluded for the night, several drivers expressed
\ntheir concern over the monotonous, eight-hour shift that they
\nwill undertake each day.<\/p>\n
\"Not that I'm already complaining, because the job will in
\nfact provide me with a better livelihood, but I can already
\nimagine now that I will work somewhat like a robot,\" Sanusi said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/practice-makes-perfect-for-rookie-busway-drivers-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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