- Title: INDONESIA-TRAFFIC/MOTORBIKE TAXI Jakarta's motorbike taxi goes high-tech
- Date: 12th July 2015
- Summary: SOBARI CHECKING ROUTE ON HIS PHONE
- Embargoed: 27th July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Indonesia
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA94IH870OYA5GELXFWUJA93R2O
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Getting around in Jakarta is time-consuming and tiring due to endless traffic jams.
Commuters can sit for hours in an unmoving vehicle or take long detours using different forms of transport to get to their destination on time.
"Ojek" or motorbike taxis have long been one of the most reliable ways to get around the chaos of the Indonesian capital. People just flag down a ride from the side of the street.
But now, thanks to smartphone technology, apps lead ojek drivers to their customer -- no matter where they are standing on the side of the busy road.
GrabBike, which is part of GrabTaxi, a mobile E-hailing app that originated in Malaysia, launched its motorcycle book-and-dispatch service in Indonesia in May. The company received nearly 8,000 orders in the city within a week of its launch.
"It is comfortable, because you don't need to wave on the street to stop a taxi. It is better to use GrabBike since I don't have to deal with the traffic and it is also faster," says 21-year-old student Nabila, who frequently uses apps to order motorbikes.
Home-grown GO-JEK which started as a phone motorbike booking system four years ago launched an app in January and the number of green-jacketed drivers on its books jumped tenfold to 10,000.
And the app itself has been downloaded nearly 400,000 times in six months, setting a national record.
Ojek drivers say their incomes have increased.
"In one week I can make around 1.5 million Rupiah ($112). So, compared to the traditional ojek, GO-JEK is more promising and has better prospects," said driver Sobari, who goes with one name like many Indonesians.
Nadiem Makarim, Chief Executive Officer of GO-JEK said the company is in talks with the Jakarta government to provide a feeder service from residential areas to existing public transport.
"We're not a competitor to public transport, but we could be, in fact a critical complement to public transport by providing the last mile feeder," said Makarim.
But the increased accessibility of ojeks has some transportation experts worried.
If the number of motorbike taxis increase, the roads could become more congested, they say.
"The problem of today is that people are using motorcycle taxi from their homes to their offices, from their homes to offices, from their homes to the markets, which is not ideal, (not) an ideal situation. So in terms of technology you'll be seeing that more and more appearing in our cities but I think there should be a planner - the government should look at that - very carefully, making sure if those services exist they are serving as a feeder not a main transport service," said Danang Parikesit of the Indonesia Transportation Society.
A slump in infrastructure investment after the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, poor urban planning and bureaucratic turf wars have all contributed to a lack of efficient public transportation which is at the root of the daily headache for the 10 million who live here.
Economists estimate that the congested roads cost the country's economy about 5 billion USD a year, and is one of the biggest brakes on growth.
Jakarta has started investing more in public transport. Construction of a mass rapid transit system began in 2013 after decades of delay, and is slated to open in 2018. But critics still doubt how effective it will really be, as there are at least 1,000 new cars and motorbikes on the roads every day. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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