Travelling about Jakarta by taxi, Bluebird, Express, Trans Taxi, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Despite my known preference for public transport, I have recently had to use taxis a lot, due to the presence in our domestic midst of one of my offspring, who is brave and resourceful but not yet fully au fait with the intricacies of suddenly having to bail out when a small angkot is inundated with five evil copet2.
Bluebird
Formerly it was a ‘given’; that one waited for a Bluebird, but that era has surely passed, for reasons both positive and negative, the latter being that so many Bluebird imitators are now on the roads, with azure livery deceptively designed to fool would-be passengers into believing they are boarding the famously reliable breed, the former reason being that in fact several rival firms are proving equally reliable in terms of both courtesy and service.
I have to say what confirmed my willingness to disavow my erstwhile fealty to the blue vehicles is their appalling level of telephone ordering standards. Almost every time we ring them up and get a promise of a cab for the airport, we then get a call back about 15 minutes prior to the agreed time, saying there are no vehicles available. This subsequently transpires to be omong kosong, for once we have dragged our baggage to the high road, we see scores of Bluebirds sailing emptily past. A driver told us that HQ does not provide drivers with adequate communication!
Express & Trans
So in the course of my peregrinations around our delightful metropolis, I have experimented with alternatives and found two in particular to be excellent, those being –
Random usage of lesser known varieties has proven a patchy experience, some just fine but others leaving me exasperated when I have to give drivers directions to – for example – Blok M, which one would have imagined is quite a well-known area.
Kosti Jaya, Dian, Prestasi, et al
I have to say that many of the others are not to be recommended. I have rarely if ever found Dian taxi drivers to be either knowledgable, which is useful, or, more useful, being willing to find the right change. Kosti Jaya were once quite good, but seem to be dying out and those who have used the remaining specimens do not have high praise to heap on them.
Those which declare themselves to be ‘safe and steady’ have not always turned out to be. The old reviled Prestasi breed has disappeared, presumably flying another flag these days.
But I have perforce grabbed obscure varieties, and these can actually be okay. It has for so long been my habit to avoid the others that in all fairness I shouldn’t slag them off, for who knows, they may have improved!?! Perhaps other IM acolytes can comment!
Bali Airport Taxis
As a penultimate point, I am just back from a short break in Bali, which reminded me that the Isle of the Gods has less than divine aspects. Coming out of the airport, one is faced with an array of avarice, demanding Rp.80,000 or more to make the immense odyssey to Kuta.
If you are not accompanied by an Indonesian, I hear the rate quoted can be even higher. Press through the throng and the price falls to Rp.70K, then 60K, but once you break through the insanity barrier, which roughly corresponds to the airport carpark, you can negotiate it down to 50 or even less. This particular trip, I was with one of my young uns, and had been prevailed on to stay someplace rather posher than I usually choose. Having got a deal for 55K to Kuta, I gave the name of the opulent edifice and the swine tried to jack it back up to 60! On yer bike, mate!
Jakarta Angkot
But when all is said and done, you can’t beat Jakarta’s angkots. Last week I boarded a B03 one evening and sat beside the driver, who asked me where I was headed. When I told him the toll gate, he at once negotiated a personal contract to take me there by the shortest route, non-stopping for anyone else, for a mere Rp.5000! God bless enterprise!
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I beg to differ, sir. I found that Taksi Putra is better than Dian Taksi. Mersindo is also quite nice. You can also try Gamya, I rate them slightly better thatn Express.
And for Blue Bird telephone ordering, the order will only go to those with GPS. The order will be broadcasted to all taxis with GPS. Blue Bird taxis without GPS can’t take phone order, they only pick up passengers on the streets, malls, etc.