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Navigating Jakarta's rat runs with Waze
Acquired by giant tech company Google in 2013, Waze has a team called Waze Editors who actively share about new routes and updates regarding traffic policy.
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A crowdsourcing-based navigation platform, Waze gathers reports from users about traffic congestion, accidents, road closures and police operations. (Shutterstock.com/dennizn/File)
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ack in the day, jalan tikus (rat runs), or the narrow lanes that people use to avoid the traffic on main roads, were only known to the locals who lived in the area and who were familiar with the surroundings.
Knowledge of jalan tikus is essential for those who live in the capital city and drive all the time, as these alleys may help them avoid traffic congestion on the main roads and cut their commute time quite significantly.
However, thanks to current technological advances such as navigation app Waze, such knowledge is no longer insider information and has instead become public.
Sixty-nine-year-old Iwan Burnadi Halim, for instance, regularly drives from his home in Lippo Cikarang in Bekasi regency, West Java, to Kramat Jati Market in East Jakarta, from Monday to Saturday. As he usually commutes during rush hours, he can be stuck in traffic, often for as long as two hours.
However, for the past five years he has heavily relied on Waze to find the fastest route. “The app saves a lot of my time,” he recently told The Jakarta Post, adding that the app had helped him cut his trip home by at least 30 minutes.
Read also: Google may be trying to quietly kill Waze: Report
Waze is also a preferable choice for Decit, 38, and Yeni Siregar, 24. Decit said the app gave her complete guidance about which main roads to take, while Yeni regards Waze as very useful during traffic congestion.
