Riding the TransJakarta Busway
I was last in Jakarta two decades ago, so I was really surprised when I noticed transportation options on Google Maps when I needed to head back to the hotel after my orientation at the Indonesian Fulbright offices. The TransJakarta BRT, AKA busway, began operations in January of 2004, and now, 15 years later, has a daily ridership of 663,000 per day. You can check the many routes online. Comparing my options — I could take a 50k rupiah GoJek or the 3500 on the busway — I decided to brave it out and try out my broken bahasa Indonesia.
There are dedicated lanes for the bus, giving it a much needed relief from the city’s infamous traffic, although some of them are under construction. I noticed there were much more construction sites where the planned MRT stations were being built, so perhaps there’s a connection there. Getting to the bus stops, called “Halte” which is Dutch for stop, you have to find a land-bridge to safely cross over the multiple lanes of traffic and get to the dedicated lanes.
There were two turnstiles when I got to the Halte, and I noticed a tap-system for RFID cards. There was a kiosk next to the turnstiles and I asked the man inside if I could buy one ticket.
“Sorry, sir, you can’t just buy one trip.” He told me. “You can purchase a multi trip card for 40,000 rupiah, and you’ll have 20,000 rupiah credit to use with the card.”
“I’ll take one, please,” I told him, sounding like an 8-year-old man-child because that was the last time I lived in Jakarta.
He gave me two options for cards, both connected to national banks. I chose the Brizzi BRI card because it had a nice design made for the 2018 ASEAN games. I tapped my card, went in and realized I didn’t check what number bus line I needed to go on. After years of travel in different countries, I learned that it’s important to practice awareness in new surroundings like these and not to take out mobile phones when you feel puzzled or look as conspicuously as a sweaty tourist as I did. So I tried to choose one from the signs above the bus entrance. But one pulled up and started heading the direction I was going, so I went along with it.
Getting on the bus was a little bit of a leap of faith. There is a gap between the bus and the platform, which depends on how closely the driver pulls up. The station that I was at had platforms with doors that only opened when the bus was pulling up. But I saw ones without them and people were hanging at the edge. I wouldn’t lean on any of them.
I got on the bus and promptly fell on a woman. I apologized and she was so kind, and I’m really grateful I didn’t step on her very expensive-looking heels. The rapid transit, like in other cities, is a great equalizer. People of all SES, it seems, rides the busway.
I tried to step out of people’s way, but then was poked at by a woman. She stood up from her chair and looked at me menacingly, but then calmed down when she realized I wasn’t from here. She explained slowly in Bahasa Indonesia that I was in the all-women’s area. I apologized yet again. Stay out of places marked “Ruang Khusus Perempuan” if you pass as male! I noticed later there were pink buses that were also exclusive for women.
The last mistake I made was choosing a bus that only stopped halfway to my destination. I got out to a more crowded and much larger platform than the last one, at Tosari. There were at least 10 bus lines in both directions. But reading the signs above the platforms, I finally saw the bus I was intending to go on. The doors in these platforms were nonexistent, and I wasn’t brave enough to get near the edge to look out so I didn’t know whether my bus was arriving or not. I realized later that most platforms showed when the next bus was arriving. But my bus was delayed due to all the aforementioned construction and was stuck on “tiba” or arriving.
I got out at my stop and tapped my card to exit the halte. There are some platforms, like Monas at the end of the route, which didn’t need people to tap — probably because it’s the end of the line. But it didn’t affect my next trip that I went on. The price was only 3500 rupiah, but it’s even cheaper between 5–7 am at 2000 rupiah. I felt like I got to my destination slightly faster than had I taken a taxi, except for moments in expansive roundabouts. Overall, it was a great experience and I highly recommend it as the first choice of transport in Jakarta, at least until the MRT opens in April. I can’t wait to try that out too!
