Taxi passengers extra cautious about security<\/p>\n
By Stevie Emilia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A red-and-yellow taxi passed in front of a woman
\nwho was dressed in an elegant office outfit. She looked at the
\ntaxi for a second but then ignored it, even though it was for
\nhire.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, when a light-blue taxi passed on the
\nother side of the street, the woman eagerly waved her hand,
\ncrossed the busy street and entered the taxi without any
\nhesitation.<\/p>\n
This has become a common sight on most of the city's main
\nstreets these days. Many people pick their taxis carefully.<\/p>\n
Previously, people preferred to use taxis from certain
\ncompanies not only to seek comfort and better services but also
\nto avoid taxis whose drivers tampered with the meter.<\/p>\n
The taxi flag-fall is set at Rp 2,000 while each kilometer
\nwill accrue Rp 900. Taxi waiting time is Rp 9,000 per hour and
\nminimum fares for orders by phone range from Rp 6,000 to Rp
\n9,000.<\/p>\n
But now, passengers, especially women, have another reason to
\nbe more picky, following frightening reports on robberies of taxi
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
An employee of PT Petrokimia Nusantara Interindo, Vera, has a
\nnew ritual before getting into a taxi when she does not feel
\nquite secure: checking the taxi's trunk.<\/p>\n
Once, she said, she used her small suitcase as an excuse to
\ncheck the trunk.<\/p>\n
\"I said I wanted to put it in the trunk even though there was
\nmore than enough space for my luggage on the front seat,\" she
\nlaughed of her habit.<\/p>\n
\"I only want to make sure I'm safe. I don't want to get
\nassaulted, or even worse, raped,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She said that she began the new habit after a colleague said
\nher female friend was recently assaulted and robbed. The victim
\ntook a taxi in front of Plaza Indonesia, and as she in the back,
\ntwo men suddenly got in. They took all her valuables, including
\ncash drawn from some ATMs, and then dumped her on the street.<\/p>\n
\"I've also heard that in some cases, the driver cooperates
\nwith people who hide in the taxi trunk. As a passenger gets in,
\nthey push in the backseat and rob the passenger.\"<\/p>\n
\"I don't want that to happen to me,\" Vera said.<\/p>\n
Some taxi users began taking precautions long before the
\nwidespread reports on taxi robberies.<\/p>\n
Sri Lestari, an employee of Burson-Marsteller, Corporate,
\nFinancial and Marketing Communications, always orders a taxi by
\nphone.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not afraid of being robbed because I only take taxis from
\ncertain companies,\" said Sri, who pays between Rp 30,000 and Rp
\n40,000 for one trip from her home in Cinangka, Tangerang, to her
\noffice on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I never wait for taxis on the roadside, it's time consuming,\"
\nSri said.<\/p>\n
She said that she has had unfavorable experiences when
\ntraveling by taxi, such as when one driver drove her around
\nbefore heading toward her destination.<\/p>\n
\"But I'm not afraid. If I felt uneasy with a driver, I would
\norder him to stop and get out of the taxi right away,\" Sri said.<\/p>\n
A private bank employee, Novianti, also orders by phone taxis
\nfrom certain companies.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to gamble with my own safety,\" Novianti said.<\/p>\n
Their fear is natural.<\/p>\n
Police<\/p>\n
In June and July alone, the police recorded 21 taxi robberies
\nin Greater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In most cases, the robbers, who had colluded with the drivers,
\nnot only took all the passengers' money, including that obtained
\nat ATMs, but also assaulted the victims before dumping them on
\nunknown streets far from their original destinations.<\/p>\n
City police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang warned people
\nrecently to be careful when choosing taxis.<\/p>\n
He said the police consider the crimes serious and cooperate
\nwith taxi companies in an effort to combat the crimes.<\/p>\n
\"It will worsen unless proper strategies are implemented,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 14, police arrested a taxi driver and his accomplice
\nfor trying to rob a female passenger, who was an undercover
\npolice officer pretending to be newly arrived foreigner at
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport.<\/p>\n
One kilometer after leaving the airport, the driver pulled
\nover and picked up a man waiting at the roadside, claiming to be
\nthe driver's friend.<\/p>\n
Up until last year, the city had issued licenses for 28 taxi
\ncompanies to operate more than 20,000 taxis in Greater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
PT President Taxi, which is licensed to operate about 7,000
\ncabs, is unique because the yellow-and-red cabs are owned by
\n3,000 people. This makes it difficult for the company to control
\nrecalcitrant drivers.<\/p>\n
According to President Taxi driver Rahmat, the company might
\nhave a notorious reputation but not all of the drivers are bad.<\/p>\n
\"But several bad drivers make all drivers from President Taxi
\nlook bad,\" said Rahmat, who has been with President four years.<\/p>\n
The image has badly affected the earnings of the honest
\ndrivers.<\/p>\n
\"It's hard for me to get passengers now. Once I only had two
\npassengers for a whole day,\" sighed the 34-year-old Rahmat.<\/p>\n
He said that most of President Taxi's drivers were honest men
\ntrying to earn a living in the city. \"It's not fair blaming one
\nperson's bad deed on all of us.\"<\/p>\n
Another driver, Slamet, of Blue Bird, urged people to order
\ntaxis by phone for safety reasons.<\/p>\n
\"It's safer, especially at night, to order by phone because
\nthe identity of both the passenger and the driver is known,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Suhadi, of Kosti, offered some tips to help prevent a robbery.<\/p>\n
\"If you hail a taxi on the street, try to make sure it is from
\na well-known and reliable taxi company but don't base your
\njudgment on the color of the taxi, such as a blue taxi only,\" he
\nsaid. \"Look carefully at the company's name on the side of the
\nvehicle along with its code number. As you get in, check the
\ndashboard. And don't forget to remember the driver's name, ID and
\nphotograph.\"<\/p>\n
He also advised passengers to get out of the taxi at once if
\nthe driver claims his meter is broken, or if he tries to bargain
\nand refuses to use his meter.<\/p>\n
He said many taxis which queued at bus terminals, train
\nstations or airports often try to bargain and refuse to ply short
\ndistances.<\/p>\n
\"You have to insist on using the meter, if the driver refuses,
\npick another taxi. Most of the time, if you accept the bargain,
\nyou may end up paying two or three times the metered rate,\"
\nSuhadi said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/taxi-passengers-extra-cautious-about-security-1447893297",
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