Public bus ordeal is here to stay despite busway

Public bus ordeal is here to stay despite busway

It was Sunday afternoon. I was driving in the fast lane in
front of Atmajaya University. That is, if you could call it fast.
I could not help but notice there was heavy congestion in the
Jalur Lambat (slow lane). Later, I saw that it was caused by
several buses stopping in the middle of the road to pick up
passengers while the road ahead of them was totally empty.

Well, nothing unusual about it, although right under the
nearby Semanggi cloverleaf, several policemen were casually
sitting on their motorcycles, waiting for unsuspecting
motorcyclists who were stupid enough to push their luck by
entering the no-motorcycles zone. Nothing unusual either. Hey,
it's not like I am trying to deny those police officers several
compromised thousands of rupiah, but is it not supposedly the
police's duty to maintain law and order on the streets?

Those buses are really a nuisance. They should be replaced
with new, shining ones with a good exhaust system to reduce air
pollution. God knows how much carbon monoxide and all the other
things we inhale every second.

I bet 90 percent of those poisonous gasses and substances come
from public transportation vehicles. Come on, be honest. You must
have noticed how the air feels cleaner and the sky bluer during
Idul Fitri holidays, when there are virtually no buses around.

Of course, I appreciate the effort of our governor, His
Excellency Sutiyoso, who has allocated Rp 65 billion to upgrade
the city transportation system from Blok M to Kota. The funds
went partly towards painting the right lane red and hanging
BUSWAY signs over it while Indonesians, to this day, drive on the
"wrong side of the street". It must be Sutiyoso's way to teach
his people how to drive properly.

The rest of the money will be used to build new bus stops. I
can't help but wonder where he is going to build the stops, and
how in God's name we are supposed to cross the street to get to
them? Oh yeah, I forgot, the pedestrian bridge. Stupid me. Of
course, we, Indonesians, so looovveeee to climb stairs to get to
the bus stop, even when we can just stroll along, hand in hand,
across the street. After all, cars would stop in the name of
pedestrians, otherwise, if we get run over jaywalking, the cars
and their passengers would be burned to death.

Last but not least, money has also been set aside to buy some
new buses. There you go, Sutiyoso. Finally something useful,
although one would quietly ask whether it would not have been
better to use all the money to buy new buses. I am sure that Rp
65 billion would be enough to buy at least 100 new buses.

Be sure to allocate some of the money to educate bus drivers
on traffic regulations. No, on second thought, make that two
classes, one for the bus drivers and the other for the traffic
policemen.

Throw in several of those fancy hidden cameras to take
pictures of traffic violators. We could even take pictures of the
policemen who love to hide behind trees, between bushes and under
bridges, waiting for motorists to break the law rather than
prevent them from doing it. How about finishing the halted bridge
construction on Jalan Gatot Subroto?

Here is a good one: End the ineffective three-in-one policy,
at least as long as the street jockeys are still in the business.
In fact, anything else would be better than just painting and
hanging signs.

I have a dream that one day Jakartans will be able to breathe
fresh, clean air. I have a dream that one day the traffic will be
in order, no buses to compete with and no cops to jump on me ...
or is it only a dream?

-- M. Harin