I

t was a sunny Saturday in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, when Riana took out her phone to take a selfie on the back of an 1987 Oto Pownis, a bus mostly made of wood that once transported people between Pangkalpinang and Sungailiat in Bangka Belitung.

“I have never ridden in a Pownis bus my whole life, but it reminded me of the ones in my parents’ pictures from back in the day,” said Riana in between pose and angle changes in search of the perfect portrait.

Riana was one of the hundreds of visitors to the Jakarta International Expo to see a collection of classic buses displayed in the recent Indonesia Classic and Unique Bus (Incubus) exhibition.

With an admission price of Rp 20,000 (US$1.50) visitors could examine 10 classic buses that once transported passengers across the country from a variety of eras.

The oldest bus on display was a Mitsubishi Fuso MR/MAR 470 from 1963, once owned by the Indonesian Air Force in Malang, East Java.

It was claimed the 55-year-old bus had been driven straight from Kutoarjo, Central Java, to take part in the exhibition.

Other buses were also on show, including a 1991 Mercedes-Benz with a body made by Australian builder Volger, originally purchased by state-owned transportation company Perum Pengangkutan Penumpang Djakarta (PPD) for the 1992 Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Jakarta.

The PPD bus’ livery, with a white body and blue striping, was one of the inspirations for the TransJakarta Vintage Series buses produced in 2016, to pay homage to the company’s heyday.

Ahmad M. Fikri, Incubus coordinator from Indonesian bus-related portal haltebus.com, said the exhibition aimed at changing visitors’ perspectives of buses as a form of transportation.

“For most people, a bus is just something you get on to get to your destination. We’ve brought in buses from all eras to remind people that buses are a part of our society’s development throughout history,” said Fikri.

According to Fikri, the Incubus exhibition is the fourth, with the first having been put on in 2011.

“We’ve done four exhibitions including this year, but we’ve only had a hall to ourselves since last year. In our first year, we toured Jakarta with 10 classic buses,” explained Fikri, noting that most of the buses were owned by private collectors.

The buses shown in the exhibition were well-maintained examples, Fikri said, and all of them were still roadworthy as well as possessing most of their original parts.

“There have been a lot of news articles saying that many buses are not roadworthy, particularly nearing Lebaran. But if we look past that, our buses nowadays are comfortable and safe thanks to technological advancements. This exhibition is part of our initiative toward changing the public’s mindset that buses are not preferable to other modes of transport.”

The exhibition seemed to make an impression on many visitors, such as private-sector employee Bambang who attended with his young son.

“My son is at the age where he just likes every transport-related thing, including buses. For me, buses are a reliable way to get around town as well as for going back to my hometown during Lebaran, but I just hope that whoever’s driving knows what they’re doing behind the wheel,” said Bambang with a chuckle. (jlm)