Twice the Ride

Oh yeah. It didn't take too long before I finally used the TransJakarta busway service from my university in Salemba to my high school Al-Azhar 1. In fact, I've already done the route twice in three days, with another test-ride to measure the time required. The best thing about it is that both ends of my public transport journey are right where I need them to be. The bus shelter in Salemba is right in front of my campus, hence the name "Salemba UI", while the one in Al-Azhar is, well, right in front of the mosque, hence "Masjid Agung". From Salemba UI, I go to Matraman I shelter to transfer to another route, which takes me to Dukuh Atas. Then, I change routes once again to reach my beloved Al-Azhar campus. Actually, I've already known that I can do the route on Bang Yos' legacy project, but that knowledge didn't help me withstand all the shocks from the unpredictable adventure.

First of all, when I told you about changing routes, I really mean it. Don't imagine that route transfer is simply strolling to another door in the same kaleng kerupuk bus shelter. Click on the image above, look for Matraman I and Dukuh Atas 2. You'll notice that both of them are connected by a long oval to another shelter. If there were a legend for the map, the explanation for the oval would be "a hellish walk on a ridiculously long bridge through the city's heat and pollution, plus beggars if you're lucky enough". Basically, they're separate stops which are close enough to each other to make people walk far enough between them. Or perhaps the bridges are built-in jogging tracks to keep Jakartans healthy.

Next, I was dumbfounded by how the faux-scheduling system works. If, in any case, there are buses that goes too closely between each other, the one at the back will go ultra-slowly to let the bus in front gain an acceptable distance. It is a way to avoid rows of buses in one shelter and to have some time between buses. That won't bother you at all, unless you're riding the second bus and have a short temper. You paid the same price for your ticket like the passengers of the first bus, so why do you have to be delayed just for the freakin' system to look great? It's not even our fault that the buses often clump together.

In conclusion, I now understand why so many people still hesitate to ride TransJakarta. Well, frankly, I'm not so satisfied with it either. If it wasn't for the traffic jam-free portions of the route, I'd rather not use it. The city council has tons of stuffs to improve so that the city's first real pulic transportation system can do what it's supposed to do the from the very first place. It has taken so much of already-rare road spaces, so it'd better be worth it, soon.