Female drivers take wheel on busway

Female drivers take wheel on busway

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Neni Aryani, 27, a diminutive young woman, held the wheel steady
during her maiden journey as a busway driver with Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso and his entourage aboard, from Blok M to Kota.

"I love challenging jobs. You can imagine how proud a tiny
girl like me is to have an opportunity to drive such a giant
bus," said the Bandung-born former secretary, who happens to be
the youngest sister of veteran pop singer Dian Pishesha.

Dian was also on the bus and also appeared to be delighted by
her kid sister's new career.

Heni is one of three women who have been hired recently.

Their first day of work was on April 21, which is the
commemoration day and date of birth of national heroine Kartini.

The TransJakarta Busway company has actually hired 12 women
drivers in a recent recruiting drive, but only allowed three of
them to plunge directly into the demanding job.

The rest are undergoing additional training.

However, driving a big bus is not new for Mulyati Sujono, 38,
a housewife, who drove tourist buses along the Java-Bali route
for two years.

"My sister, who uses the busway everyday, told me about the
job vacancy (for busway drivers). I tried my luck by applying for
the job since I know that I would get a relatively decent
salary," said the mother of one, who resides in Depok, West Java.

Each busway driver receives a net salary of approximately Rp 2
million, plus free room and board.

Mulyati said that all busway drivers had been trained to
handle all the types of buses used on the busway network.

"Of all the buses, I like to drive those with manual
transmissions because I don't want my right calf (for the
accelerator and brake pedals) to get bigger than my left one,
which would sit idle without a clutch pedal to depress," she said
jokingly.

She said she planned to rent a house near the main busway
depot in Pinangranti, East Jakarta as she would get home very
late if she had to commute back to Depok each day.

Busway drivers work in two shifts, from 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
and from 12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

A challenging job and a decent salary were also the main
reasons why Endah Sulistyo, 37, applied for the position.

"I need a permanent job with a fixed salary to care for my
four-year old child," said the single mom from Surabaya, who
previously worked as a non-contract dump truck driver.

Endah said that she also once worked as a supporting actress
in a local soap opera Jinny oh Jinny.

TransJakarta Busway manager Irzal Z Djamal, said that the
hiring of women drivers was an effort to enhance the busway's
friendly image.

"Hopefully, the women will give a stronger impression of
hospitality to our passengers," Irzal said.

Before the women were hired, the company had 140 men drivers
for its 60 buses.