J

akarta is the capital city of Indonesia with some 8.5 million inhabitants and about 3 million additional commuters during weekdays.

No wonder, since metropolitan Jakarta is becoming the largest and most populous city in Southeast Asia. These numbers result in a series of problems, one of which is the transportation system.

Since the 1970s, the Jakarta administration has tried to reform Jakarta's transportation system by producing policies to solve congestion problems.

Those policies have been confirmed by experts who have recommended that that the most appropriate mode of transportation for Jakarta is the one that can transport as many people as possible, in a fast, safe and affordable manner.

The latest and most significant change was made during the Sutiyoso era when the former Governor of Jakarta promoted the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which has become known as Transjakarta. Launched on Jan. 15, 2004 with an initial total of 12.9 kilometers in service length, Transjakarta, also became known as the busway.

It has been criticized by many since it has taken over a lane from previously normal road space, reducing space available for other vehicles.

Beside these critics, there is much appreciation for the existence of the Transjakarta especially from its users. They say that Transjakarta is a breakthrough in the Jakarta transportation system that has increased their mobility. Many of them have chosen to leave their private cars at home and take the Transjakarta to work.

"I took Transjakarta from home to the nearest shelter to the parliament building. I save 40 minutes during peak hours compared to driving my own car," said Nusron Wahid, a parliament member.

Transportation problems can be solved not only by making physical changes to infrastructure, but also by gaining public support. The system is now serving eight corridors with a total of 124 kilometers in road length, served by a total of 385 single buses and 23 articulated buses, so public acceptance is important in making the system successful.

The number of Transjakarta passengers keeps increasing over time. From January to November 2009, Transjakarta served approximately 6.8 million passengers per month, which is an 11 percent increase from the same period last year.

However, public acceptance could still be boosted. There has been an initiative by the users to increase public acceptance by establishing a forum where they can exchange information and discuss how to improve the system.

The forum, named Suara Transjakarta (Voice of Transjakarta), was launched on Feb. 2, 2004. "Transjakarta is a boon for the Jakarta transportation system that brings not only new physical infrastructure, but also adds new socio-cultural trends to Jakarta public transportation," said David Tjahjana, Coordinator of Suara Transjakarta.

Indeed, there is a huge behavioral difference for Jakartans between using the old transportation modes and the Transjakarta. Before the Transjakarta era, people could easily hop on and off the buses anywhere they liked, mostly not from the provided bus stops and shelters.

In many cases, this anarchy led to traffic chaos and accidents. There were reports of passengers being hit by other vehicles when attempting to get on and off buses, which did not always stop appropriately at the provided shelters.

Meanwhile, Transjakarta has its dedicated shelters so that passengers do not need to be afraid of being hit by other vehicles while hopping on and off the bus. These physical changes have led to behavioral changes in travel.

However, there are also concerns regarding passengers' behavior while using Transjakarta buses.

First, there are still passengers who are not patient enough and force their way forward to get closer to the shelter door, instead of queuing. The front-liners - duty officers at the shelters - frequently have difficulties calming down those impatient passengers. Some front-liners even said that that overcrowding invited pickpockets to become active on the busways.

Second, passengers' frequently ignore to give priority and give up their seats to elderly people, pregnant women and the disabled. Transjakarta management has put visual printed warnings on this inside the busways, but some people still completely ignore them.

Third, passengers, who cannot get seats, are frequently reluctant to proceed down the bus and they often opt to stand near the entrance door, thus obstructing others getting into the bus. Their attitude makes the buses appear to be more crowded, while actually they could still take more people standing in the aisles. As a result, passengers in the next bus shelter often do not want to board the bus, which seems more crowded than in reality, and wait for the next one.

These examples of poor behavior have caused inconvenience to other Transjakarta users. To deal with those problems, the Suara Transjakarta has set up a public education program via the listed group service, website and direct campaign events, mentioning the "dos and don'ts" in using Transjakarta.

The forum members also do "word of mouth" campaigns by advising other passengers who they meet with, especially passengers who behave improperly during trips. Hopefully, these campaign programs will help change the improper behavior of some passengers and persuade them adopt good habits.