OFW Chronicles: Commuting in Jakarta

Jakarta is said to be the biggest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia in terms of land area and population (est. 16 million people). It also has the worst traffic situation among all the major Southeast Asian nations. This can be attributed to the lack of MRT or LRT in the metro.

If you are in Jakarta, there are 3 major ways of getting around the city:

1. By taxi- just like in any Southeast Asian country except for Singapore, Indonesian taxis are very notorious. If they know that you are a foreigner, they will take the longest route going to your destination, or worse, they will ask you to add additional Rupiah if your fare is less than 20 thousand!
The safest taxi in Jakarta is the Bluebird taxi but sometimes, some drivers will also take advantage of poor passenger especially if the former knows that you are unfamiliar with the city.

2. The TransJakarta or the Busway- since Jakarta has no MRT or LRT, Jakartans have to make do with the Busway that goes around the city just like an MRT. The bus has a special lane which enables it to navigate away from the terrible Jakarta traffic. Unfortunately, this bus has to stop whenever the traffic light is red. So if traffic is bad, expect the Busway to be slow as well.


3. The Metro mini. These are mini-buses that are not airconditioned. This is the easiest way to commute in Jakarta but it is very hot, small and it goes thru Jakarta's heavily trafficked streets and avenues! It is also important to note that vendors would board the bus to sell their stuff. The most amusing part though is that singers with their guitars would enter the bus to serenade the passengers and ask for a few rupiah after.


Other forms of transportation in Jakarta are the airconditioned buses, the angkot, the bajaj and the ojek.

the angkot or KWK, similar to the jeepneys in the Philippines but smaller







the bajaj similar to the tuk-tuk in Thailand








the ojek which is similar to the habal-habal in the Visayas.