Vendors on bicycles face tough traffic

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.