A strike by public transportation drivers on Tuesday left thousands of the capital'€™s commuters scratching their heads.

Feni Freycinetia, for example, was forced to take a much longer route to her workplace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, from her home in Condet, East Jakarta, because the angkot (public minivan) she was in was intercepted by five striking angkot drivers .

'€œThey forced the passengers to get out of the angkot, then reprimanded the driver for not joining the rally,'€ Feni said, adding that the driver had bowed to his peers'€™ demands and allowed his passengers to disembark without paying.

Feni said that she had then had to wait an hour to continue her trip on a Transjakarta bus.

Feni was among thousands of commuters in the capital left stranded at roadsides because of the strike, which involved drivers of various forms of public transportation expressing a range of demands and grievances.

The most vocal of ralliers were transportation drivers affiliated with the Land Transportation Drivers Association (PPAD) demanding that the government regulate ride-hailing applications, such as Uber and GrabCar, or even shut them down.

In anticipation of the strike, the Jakarta administration deployed 140 city-owned school buses to bus terminals in the capital.

On Monday, Jakarta Transportation Agency head Andri Yansyah said that the vehicles would be sufficient to accommodate all passengers, insisting that only taxi drivers were to go on strike.

The administration'€™s hopes fell short, however, with passengers left stranded and sporadic fracas erupting between strikers and those continuing to operate.

In response to the violent scenes on the city'€™s streets, the administration issued a warning letter to 34 taxi companies. In the letter, the administration demanded the companies fire all drivers found to have engaged in violence.

'€œIf you fail to comply, we will revoke your operation licenses,'€ says the letter, which was signed by Andri.

The brawls and tension hampered the daily lives of many Jakartans.

Muhammad Zamzam Amani, 26, was stopped from attending a meeting at a five-star hotel in Kuningan, South Jakarta, after his bosses ordered him to stay in the office to avoid the chaos.

'€œThe managers told all staff to stay in the office after one of our colleagues was attacked by a mob of protestors,'€ Muhammad told The Jakarta Post.

Like Zamzam, Ighvar Rabbighvirly was not allowed to leave his office on Jl. KH Mas Mansyur in Central Jakarta, his employers concerned for their staff'€™s safety amid the strike.

Yogyakarta resident Dewi Widyastuti, who was in the capital on business, struggled to find transportation from Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in East Jakarta. She was forced to take an Uber car, a risk in the circumstances.

'€œOn Tuesday, I got around the city via Uber. All the drivers asked me to sit in the front to forestall any attack by protesters,'€ Dewi told the Post, as strikers would have realized the car was an Uber if she had sat in the back.

She added that on previous visits to the capital, she had always taken cabs.

Measures were also carried out by the management of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport authority, which provided greater transportation options on Tuesday, from state-owned Damri buses to black-plated transportation cars.

'€œThe number of taxis coming to the airport was less than usual, but everything ran smoothly,'€ said airport operator Angkasa Pura II PR officer Haerul Anwar. (fac/rez)

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