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tevany Vanily Vanciel, in her early 20s, sobbed upon realizing the TransJakarta officers could not find the thief that had stolen her mobile phone on a crowded bus.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she said that her mobile phone was a gift from her father three months ago.

"I was suspicious about the man. He pushed me over and over again while passengers were getting off the bus," she said at the weekend.

A director with the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), Tulus Abadi, said heavily packed TransJakarta buses and shelters provided a space for pickpockets to ply their trade, especially as security guards did not monitor the areas.

Tulus attributed the crowded buses and shelters to the TransJakarta management's failure to provide clear departure and arrival schedules.

"Shelters in Bogota *Colombia* are not jammed because the officers tightly guard the busway lanes from other *private* vehicles to ensure buses depart and arrive according to schedule," he said.

Tulus said the traffic gridlock, a common sight on busway lanes, was due to poor coordination between the TransJakarta Busway Management Body, the Jakarta Transportation Agency and Jakarta Traffic Police.

"Governor *Fauzi Bowo* should take the lead to synchronize the institutions responsible for clearing the lanes," he said.

The city's plans to open corridors 9 and 10 and to procure dozens of new buses will be meaningless if the quality of the busway lanes remains poor, Tulus said.

Stevany had taken a crowded bus from Dukuh Atas shelter in Central Jakarta and realized that the zipper of her small bag was open shortly after she boarded the bus.

Officers searched the bags of all passengers exiting the bus. After arriving at the last stop in the Blok M terminal in South Jakarta, more officers jumped on to conduct a search, but in vain.

Andrias, a duty officer, said the TransJakarta officers often managed to nab pickpockets because the victims immediately realized the theft and would report it to the door officer.