Hire your own bus, travel in comfort and style

Hire your own bus, travel in comfort and style

Debbie A. Lubis, Contributor, Jakarta

With such poor public transportation options in the city, it
is better that you rent a whole bus from a bus rental company if
you want to provide transportation for a group that is guaranteed
to be comfortable.

Dozens of companies have engaged in the rental business. But
those offering buses in good condition and equipped with air
conditioners and other facilities are still limited in number.

Blue Bird Group, PT Hiba Utama, and Kramat Djati are among the
few with an established reputation in the business. They provide
buses on an hourly and daily basis, for employee pick up or long-
distance trips.

"We also pick up international school students, diplomatic
guests, and serve the transportation needs of local and
international companies and industries. We have even provided
buses for evacuation purposes!" Said Nugroho A. Yogi, sales
executive at Big Bird, a sister company of Blue Bird.

The buses vary in size and price, depending on the
destination, facilities, and maximum hours of rental. Big Bird's
air-conditioned buses have 12 seats, 23 seats, 25 seats, 44 seats
or 59 seats (non-reclining). Buses of 44 seats and 39 seats are
equipped with a TV and VCD player while buses of 39 seats have
bathroom facilities. There are also non air-conditioned buses
with 54 seats.

To further relax the passengers and ensure their safety each
of the buses is equipped with radio communication, reclining
seats and highly trained drivers.In most cases, the buses can be
chartered to travel throughout Java, Bali and Sumatra.

The rental fee of an air-conditioned bus with 23 seats is
about Rp 555,000 for six hours, or Rp 780,000 for 12 hours
(within the city only).

For a 44-seat air conditioned bus, the cost is around Rp
830,000 for six hours (within the city) and Rp 1.17 million for
12 hours.

"The price includes a driver and gasoline but not the toll
fees and parking fees," Nugroho said.

In addition, PT Hiba Utama offers an executive bus that is so
well equipped it has a sofa, meeting room, TV, mini bar,
refrigerator, tape-deck, CD player, Video, VCD player, karaoke
facilities and a telephone. It has 22 seats and comes with a
caravan including a kitchen set, wash basin, TV, and toilet.

Hiba also provides air-conditioned buses with 25 seats, 31
seats, 54 seats, and 60 seats and non air-conditioned buses with
25 seats and 59 seats.

The company also has luxury buses with 12 seats; a six hour
trip within the town costs Rp 590,000. Buses with 16 seats and 24
seats can be rented for Rp 4.2 million for 15 hours (inside the
city), while a 22-seat bus rate is Rp 3.6 million. If you hire
the bus for an additional period the price will be negotiated
according to the base rate (i.e 10 percent for every hour).

Another company, Kramat Djati provides buses with
28 seats, 22 seats, and 40 seats, complete with facilities like
air conditioners, reclining seats, TV, tape-deck, Video, and VCD
while the Neoplan bus also has a toilet.

Neoplan can be rented for Rp 2 million for a maximum of 16
hours (trip outside the city) and Rp 950,000 for a maximum of
five hours in the city on the weekend, or Rp 800,000 during the
week.