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number of robberies occurred in taxis late last year, raising concerns, especially among women, over the safety of taxi services.

Nindya Fajriati, a first year university student, said she was apprehensive about riding in taxis after 8 p.m. as she had learned that the recent taxi robberies took place at night and involved female victims.

'€œSometimes I have to take a taxi to get home from campus. However, considering the number of incidents involving female passengers, I should be more careful,'€ Nindya told The Jakarta Post.

She said there were a number of safety precautions she took on the advice of friends if she had to take a taxi at night, such as taking a picture of the driver'€™s driving permit or sitting behind the front passenger'€™s seat so she could easily pay attention to the driver'€™s movements.

Nindya added that she preferred to order a taxi via phone call or mobile application instead of hailing one on the street so she could keep track of the taxi number and driver'€™s name.

'€œI also always ask the taxi driver to open the trunk so I can make sure no one is hiding in there,'€ she continued.

In a number of incidents, the perpetrators had been hiding in the vehicle'€™s trunk and entered the main part of the vehicle through the backseat while pointing a sharp weapon at the female passengers.

Tania Andini, another regular taxi user, said that since the robberies against female taxi passengers became public she always made sure to not take out any valuables while in a taxi.

'€œThe exception is my cell phone as I always keep it in my hand,'€ Tania said.

She further said she also called a friend or family member to inform them of the taxi number and the driver'€™s name.

'€œEven when my phone credits run out, I pretend to make a call and mention the driver'€™s name loudly so he thinks that I'€™ve told a friend,'€ she went on.

In October 2014, a survey conducted by YouGov and the Thomson Reuters Foundation revealed that Jakarta'€™s public transportation was among the top five on the list of the world'€™s most dangerous public transportation systems for women.

Recently, taxi mobile booking application GrabTaxi launched a '€œtaxi aman'€ (safe taxi) campaign.

Kiki Rizki, GrabTaxi Indonesia'€™s head of marketing, said the company only worked with drivers of taxi firms that checked identity documents, driver'€™s licenses and criminal records.

'€œWe carry out strict selection to ensure passenger safety,'€ she said.

Kiki also said the firm kept passenger data private to guard against any potential abuse by drivers, or even the company'€™s employees.

According to her, passenger data and location was deleted from a driver'€™s mobile app as soon as a passenger arrived at his or her destination.

'€œWe also have a security system that can only be accessed by certain people and was designed so employees cannot extract information from our database,'€ Kiki said.