Practice makes perfect for rookie busway drivers

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Busway driver Ronny Sugiarto was guided in maneuvering his bus a little to the right, releasing the gas pedal and approaching the shelter in front of Al-Azhar Mosque, South Jakarta, on Saturday evening. He finally made a slightly jerky stop.

"Still a bit too far," said instructor Muhar, as he told Ronny to open the bus' hydraulic door and inspect the distance between the bus and the shelter's platform.

A distance of less than 15 centimeters was expected from all the drivers in training. This is considered to be a safe and convenient distance for passengers to step from the bus to the shelter's one-meter-high platform.

"It's quite difficult. I was afraid I would hit the rear-view mirror, or even worse, scrape the shelter if I maneuvered too far to the right," said Ronny.

Aligning the door of the bus with the shelter's automatic doors was another difficulty faced by the drivers.

"It would really help if there were markers to indicate exactly where we should stop," said Sudirman Silitonga, another driver.

During the night 126 drivers took a bus for a test-drive, five days away before Jan. 15, the day the busway is due to hit the road.

At all 23 shelters wooden sticks had been set up as temporary markers. While they indicated where a Hino bus should stop, several of the 20 buses used that night were longer Mercedes-Benz buses.

It was also still unclear whether permanent markers would be installed later on.

Many of the drivers had never driven a Mercedes-Benz bus before. With only Hino buses available at the National Police Traffic Training Center in Serpong, Tangerang, drivers grappled with familiarizing themselves with the Mercedes-Benz buses.

"But then, even experienced drivers need some time to adjust themselves to a new type of vehicle," said Sanusi, who has over 10 years experience as a driver of trucks and buses.

Another problem for the drivers was apparently the confusing dashboard.

"With no conductor to assist us, we really need skill to operate all those dials and controls, while keeping our concentration on the road," said Silitonga.

Each bus will have a security guard, but their duty will not include assisting the driver.

As training concluded for the night, several drivers expressed their concern over the monotonous, eight-hour shift that they will undertake each day.

"Not that I'm already complaining, because the job will in fact provide me with a better livelihood, but I can already imagine now that I will work somewhat like a robot," Sanusi said.