Vendors on bicycles face tough traffic
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Priyanto never thought that selling soya bean milk on his bicycle was a tough job that required him to put his life at risk.
Pedaling his old bicycle everyday from his home in Tambora, West Jakarta, to the National Monument (Monas) park, offices in Harmoni, Istiqlal Mosque and Senen market in Central Jakarta, the 34-year-old braved the vicious city traffic.
"Being bumped by motorcycles is a frequent experience during my four years of bicycling ... and they didn't even bother to stop," Priyanto told The Jakarta Post while waiting for customers at the Istiqlal Mosque's compound recently.
His worst experience was when a car hit his bicycle and ran over the front wheel at the Harmoni intersection late last year. The wheel was badly twisted like the number eight.
But the driver refused to take any responsibility and argued that the streets were not for bicycles.
"I could not accept his argument ... Later the driver gave me Rp 100,000 (US$11.11) after a police officer told him to do so," said the father of a two-year-old child.
Priyanto is just one of hundreds of cyclists -- mostly blue- collar workers -- who are being treated as second-rate citizens by the Jakarta administration in that millions of motorized vehicles dominate the roads.
Despite the environmentally friendly nature of bicycles, the city does not recognize them as a legal means of transportation.
As the presence of the bicycle is not stipulated in traffic regulations and transportation, the city does not provide special lanes for cyclists.
Moreover, cyclists are also not protected by any insurance although they are the most vulnerable road users.
The Indonesian Mountain Biking Community (MTB Indonesia), whose members are company executives and employees, recently urged the administration to develop special lanes for cyclists.
There is still no accurate data about cycling workers in Jakarta, but most of them are food vendors and ojek sepeda (bicycle taxi) drivers in Kota, West Jakarta, and several areas of North Jakarta.
Mansur, a dumpling vendor on bicycle, said his vehicle broke into pieces when a motorcycle hit it earlier this year.
"The motorcycle driver gave enough money to buy a new bicycle. Thank God, I only had minor wounds to my legs and hands from the accident," said Mansur, who had been in the business for three years.
Both Priyanto and Mansur realized that cycling in the city was not safe, but they have no other option.
Priyanto said he could earn around Rp 75,000 a day. He spends only Rp 25,000 to buy raw materials to produce 100 small packages of soya bean milk, which he sells for Rp 1,000 each.
"It is better than my previous income while working at a garment factory. I was paid Rp 200,000 a week for working from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.," he said, adding that now he could go home at around 5 p.m.
"Although I support the idea to establish bicycle lanes and to provide us cyclists with special facilities, I doubt it if the Jakarta administration realize -- as they are still busy with their big transportation projects: busway and monorail," Priyanto said.