Taxi passengers extra cautious about security

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.