Taxi driving, Jakarta style

Taxi driving, Jakarta style

If recent reports are anything to go by, Governor Sutiyoso's
dream of making Jakarta a more livable, people-friendly city
seems to be a long way off.

The increasing hardship of many residents in the capital is
running parallel with a steady rise in crime.

A series of recent high-profile robberies committed by taxi
drivers in the city are just a few examples of the abundant
street crime in our densely populated capital.

Two of these robberies by taxi drivers -- both committed
against women passengers -- took place last week.

The first occurred on the evening of April 14, when a woman
taking a taxi on Jl. Jendral Sudirman, close to her office, was
robbed by the taxi driver of her laptop, cellular phone, ATM card
and Rp 200,000 in cash. The driver dumped her in Rawamangun, East
Jakarta.

While police were still puzzling over that crime, a similar
offense took place the next evening.

Asyas Tasya Mustika, who was in the seventh month of her
pregnancy, took a taxi from Jl. Melawai Raya in Blok M at about
8:30 p.m. to go home to Jagakarsa. To her surprise the taxi
stopped on Jl. Fatmawati. In seconds, three strange men got in
the cab and together with the driver forced her to surrender her
belongings and reveal her ATM card numbers.

She was later attacked by one robber, who was upset after
learning that she had given a false ATM number.

The robbers made away with jewelry and cash worth some Rp 7
million and the woman was dropped in Cibubur, East Jakarta.

Two similar robberies took place in North Jakarta the previous
week. Nothing, it seems, changes.

Less dangerous but more annoying is the fate that befalls
passengers when they don't know the exact location they want to
go to.

Travelers unfamiliar with Jakarta streets often face tedious,
time-wasting strategies, even when they clearly ask to go to an
obvious landmark like a five-star hotel.

"Which way do you want me to take?" is a common question asked
by the driver and is often a pretext to identify green
passengers. Sometimes the driver claims to be a newcomer himself
to Jakarta and this becomes the excuse for an impromptu "city
tour". The driver only drives directly to the location after the
meter shows a certain amount.

The taxis operating at the Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport, meanwhile, are in a class of their own. Many people have
complained about what is effectively extortion by the drivers,
who force the unwary to pay between Rp 70,000 and Rp 150,000 for
a Rp 35,000 ride into the central city. These rip-offs continue
without the airport authority or the city administration
seemingly interested in dealing with them.

For foreigners who first come to Jakarta, these unscrupulous
taxi drivers, who care little about the negative impact they have
on tourism, are their first introduction to what might be called
Jakarta "taxi trauma".

The city, with at least its 10 million population, is now home
of around 21,000 taxis owned by at least 30 operator companies.
Most operators are companies while only about five individual
owner-operator groups.

There has been no studies of the ideal ratio between the
number of cabbies and the population. However, the
administration's most-common explanation for letting a large
amount of taxis operate in the city is that it helps tourism.

Developing tourism and curbing crime are two interrelated
goals and a serious reform of the taxi industry would effectively
kill two birds with one stone.

With increased tourism, the administration hopes to create
jobs and increase city revenue. But first it must crack down on
the people that threaten tourism development.

Many taxi drivers who attack their passengers are not
permanent staff. These unregistered drivers are usually friends
of the registered driver, whose ID is put on the dashboard. The
unregistered driver then borrows the taxi if they need cash. The
registered driver usually gets a small kickback for the use of
the cab.

Only drivers of certain taxis can get up to such mischief. The
only way for a passenger to ensure their safety is to dial a taxi
operator of good repute.

But staying safe in the city should not just be about
passengers protecting themselves. It is high time for the police,
the administration, the consumer protection agency and taxi
operators to sit down together to find better ways to regulate
the service.

Banning vehicles in a shabby condition could be one step to
improving the service to passengers. But any ban would be
meaningless unless it is properly and rigorously enforced.

Consistent operations targeting unregistered taxi drivers are
also a must.

Only when our streets are safe from dodgy taxi drivers, will
Sutiyoso's dream emerge from the city smog.