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