Traumatic taxis

Traumatic taxis

From Media Indonesia

Our capital city offers daily scenes of overcrowded buses in
which elderly women and pregnant women are squeezed in the sea of
passengers.

What about our taxis? I'm traumatized whenever I see a yellow
taxi. One day, compelled by circumstances, I waved down a Royal
City taxi (door number 418). When I was seated the driver told me
he wanted a lump sum and refused to let the flag fall. The amount
demanded was double the normal fare. No agreement was reached and
I was dropped off on the roadside. The way these taxi drivers
operate is certainly a nightmare for taxi users. The consumer is
not protected against arbitrary treatment by taxis and other
public transportation operators.

I wonder if the Ministry of Transportation and the police are
really at a loss about how to bring order to Jakarta's chaotic
public transportation system. I hope the ministry and the police
will pay serious attention to the problem and come up with a
remedy for the chronic anomalies inherent to public
transportation in the capital.

BAMBANG PRIYANTO

Jakarta