And the verdict is in. Jakarta, by far, has the worst traffic on earth. The city's gridlock makes Nairobi look like a city without traffic problems. I had the misfortune of heading to the northern part of the city from the Golden Triangle in what proved to be the most frustrating ride of my life. That's when I struck a conversation with the cab driver, who told to ditch cabs after this particular ride.
"Take the Trans-Jakarta," he said. The Trans-Jakarta is a wonderful bus service that connects the whole city and uses a specific lane that's closed to all other vehicles. Since I heard about pick-pockets on buses in the city, I asked the cabbie if it was a good idea and he told me that there's a guard in each bus and that my fears were misplaced.
So the Trans-Jakarta it was. There's a unique system of buying a ticket before boarding the bus and then queing up to get in. The guards allow a fixed number off people into the air-conditioned bus at each stop. This ensures that the buses aren't packed like Bombay's local trains. What's even better is the fact that there's a bus coming in to each stop every few minutes. The system is as good as a metro rail network considering the fact that the whole city is connected.
I saw a similar system in place even in Yogyakarta, which has virtually no problems with traffic. It's a complete win-win to use this system. You save time, money and a whole lot of nerves.
Bravo Indonesia!
"Take the Trans-Jakarta," he said. The Trans-Jakarta is a wonderful bus service that connects the whole city and uses a specific lane that's closed to all other vehicles. Since I heard about pick-pockets on buses in the city, I asked the cabbie if it was a good idea and he told me that there's a guard in each bus and that my fears were misplaced.
So the Trans-Jakarta it was. There's a unique system of buying a ticket before boarding the bus and then queing up to get in. The guards allow a fixed number off people into the air-conditioned bus at each stop. This ensures that the buses aren't packed like Bombay's local trains. What's even better is the fact that there's a bus coming in to each stop every few minutes. The system is as good as a metro rail network considering the fact that the whole city is connected.
I saw a similar system in place even in Yogyakarta, which has virtually no problems with traffic. It's a complete win-win to use this system. You save time, money and a whole lot of nerves.
Bravo Indonesia!
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