T

he Jakarta administration has called on ride-hailing firms to tweak their systems to enable them to bar their ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers from receiving or waiting for orders on heavily congested streets.

The move aims to disperse drivers, who wait for passengers at ngetem (busy locations), especially near train stations.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency proposed the idea to complement a previous call that urged operators to provide shelter for their drivers so that they would not occupy roads and hamper traffic flow as the administration looked to smoothen traffic ahead of the Asian Games.

“We invited them to a number of meetings and connected them to third parties that have vacant land for a possible shelter. I don’t know what hindered the progress because it’s a business-to-business scheme,” agency traffic management division head Priyanto said on Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands of drivers roam the city daily, establishing themselves as a reliable mode of transportation for commuters who demand speed at affordable prices when traveling in Jakarta.

As the number of drivers continues to grow and create more competition, ride-hailing firms Go-Jek and Grab seemed unprepared to anticipate the worst: the practice of ngetem, which is widely believed to be one of the main reasons behind Jakarta’s traffic woes.

“When they [operators] first offered their service to the public, they claimed that they would be different from conventional transportation, because they don’t have to ngetem. Apparently it’s the same,” agency head Andriyansyah said.

He added that the idea to bar drivers from receiving orders at the restricted areas were aimed at enforcing the prevailing regulations.

Officials from the agency and the police have conducted multiple raids and ticketed many ngetem drivers at busy areas, such as shopping malls and train stations, with Palmerah and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta being the most notorious. This despite there being dedicated parking areas for conventional and online ojek drivers near the stations.

Train stations have become favorite hangouts for drivers because it is where many orders come from, particularly during peak hours when commuters from Jakarta’s outskirts travel to and from work.

Over two millions trips were made daily from peripheral areas to Jakarta, both with public and private vehicles, according to the Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ)

“If we are far from the stations, the passengers will have to wait longer and it could result in the cancelation of orders,” said Mustafa, 51, a resident of Tanah Abang, who has been a ojek driver for the past three years.

He added that the proposed idea would not help ease traffic congestion given the high number of vehicles in Jakarta. “If there is a shelter, it should be big. Where would they to find it?”

Go-Jek vice president for corporate communications Michael Say said it would continue to communicate with the city’s transportation agency to tackle the issue and improve its service.

“One of the efforts we have implemented is to initiate cooperation with parties that manage offices, shopping centers and the government to provide shelters for our partners and customers,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Grab was not immediately available to respond to the Post’s request for comment.