Taxi passengers extra cautious about security
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): A red-and-yellow taxi passed in front of a woman who was dressed in an elegant office outfit. She looked at the taxi for a second but then ignored it, even though it was for hire.
A few minutes later, when a light-blue taxi passed on the other side of the street, the woman eagerly waved her hand, crossed the busy street and entered the taxi without any hesitation.
This has become a common sight on most of the city's main streets these days. Many people pick their taxis carefully.
Previously, people preferred to use taxis from certain companies not only to seek comfort and better services but also to avoid taxis whose drivers tampered with the meter.
The taxi flag-fall is set at Rp 2,000 while each kilometer will accrue Rp 900. Taxi waiting time is Rp 9,000 per hour and minimum fares for orders by phone range from Rp 6,000 to Rp 9,000.
But now, passengers, especially women, have another reason to be more picky, following frightening reports on robberies of taxi passengers.
An employee of PT Petrokimia Nusantara Interindo, Vera, has a new ritual before getting into a taxi when she does not feel quite secure: checking the taxi's trunk.
Once, she said, she used her small suitcase as an excuse to check the trunk.
"I said I wanted to put it in the trunk even though there was more than enough space for my luggage on the front seat," she laughed of her habit.
"I only want to make sure I'm safe. I don't want to get assaulted, or even worse, raped," she said.
She said that she began the new habit after a colleague said her female friend was recently assaulted and robbed. The victim took a taxi in front of Plaza Indonesia, and as she in the back, two men suddenly got in. They took all her valuables, including cash drawn from some ATMs, and then dumped her on the street.
"I've also heard that in some cases, the driver cooperates with people who hide in the taxi trunk. As a passenger gets in, they push in the backseat and rob the passenger."
"I don't want that to happen to me," Vera said.
Some taxi users began taking precautions long before the widespread reports on taxi robberies.
Sri Lestari, an employee of Burson-Marsteller, Corporate, Financial and Marketing Communications, always orders a taxi by phone.
"I'm not afraid of being robbed because I only take taxis from certain companies," said Sri, who pays between Rp 30,000 and Rp 40,000 for one trip from her home in Cinangka, Tangerang, to her office on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
"I never wait for taxis on the roadside, it's time consuming," Sri said.
She said that she has had unfavorable experiences when traveling by taxi, such as when one driver drove her around before heading toward her destination.
"But I'm not afraid. If I felt uneasy with a driver, I would order him to stop and get out of the taxi right away," Sri said.
A private bank employee, Novianti, also orders by phone taxis from certain companies.
"I don't want to gamble with my own safety," Novianti said.
Their fear is natural.
Police
In June and July alone, the police recorded 21 taxi robberies in Greater Jakarta.
In most cases, the robbers, who had colluded with the drivers, not only took all the passengers' money, including that obtained at ATMs, but also assaulted the victims before dumping them on unknown streets far from their original destinations.
City police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang warned people recently to be careful when choosing taxis.
He said the police consider the crimes serious and cooperate with taxi companies in an effort to combat the crimes.
"It will worsen unless proper strategies are implemented," he said.
On Aug. 14, police arrested a taxi driver and his accomplice for trying to rob a female passenger, who was an undercover police officer pretending to be newly arrived foreigner at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
One kilometer after leaving the airport, the driver pulled over and picked up a man waiting at the roadside, claiming to be the driver's friend.
Up until last year, the city had issued licenses for 28 taxi companies to operate more than 20,000 taxis in Greater Jakarta.
PT President Taxi, which is licensed to operate about 7,000 cabs, is unique because the yellow-and-red cabs are owned by 3,000 people. This makes it difficult for the company to control recalcitrant drivers.
According to President Taxi driver Rahmat, the company might have a notorious reputation but not all of the drivers are bad.
"But several bad drivers make all drivers from President Taxi look bad," said Rahmat, who has been with President four years.
The image has badly affected the earnings of the honest drivers.
"It's hard for me to get passengers now. Once I only had two passengers for a whole day," sighed the 34-year-old Rahmat.
He said that most of President Taxi's drivers were honest men trying to earn a living in the city. "It's not fair blaming one person's bad deed on all of us."
Another driver, Slamet, of Blue Bird, urged people to order taxis by phone for safety reasons.
"It's safer, especially at night, to order by phone because the identity of both the passenger and the driver is known," he said.
Suhadi, of Kosti, offered some tips to help prevent a robbery.
"If you hail a taxi on the street, try to make sure it is from a well-known and reliable taxi company but don't base your judgment on the color of the taxi, such as a blue taxi only," he said. "Look carefully at the company's name on the side of the vehicle along with its code number. As you get in, check the dashboard. And don't forget to remember the driver's name, ID and photograph."
He also advised passengers to get out of the taxi at once if the driver claims his meter is broken, or if he tries to bargain and refuses to use his meter.
He said many taxis which queued at bus terminals, train stations or airports often try to bargain and refuse to ply short distances.
"You have to insist on using the meter, if the driver refuses, pick another taxi. Most of the time, if you accept the bargain, you may end up paying two or three times the metered rate," Suhadi said.