Fifteen years ago, many Jakartans thought a busway was a bad idea. Jakartans love their cars and dedicating one lane exclusively for public buses was a novel, unthinkable idea.

Now, it enjoys increasing popularity and despite the imminent arrival of the country’s first MRT in March, Transjakarta still has a bright future as the first revolutionary public transit mode in the capital.

In 2003, then-Jakarta governor Sutiyoso, a year before the launch of the busway, insisted that the city needed better public transportation. Otherwise, the city would have total gridlock in 2014, when Jakartans would open their garages and drive out only to find bad congestion immediately in front of their houses, said the governor, citing a 2000 report from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Inspired by TransMilenio in Bogota, Colombia, the Transjakarta system aims at persuading Jakartans leave their private cars at home and use the buses, which are fully air conditioned and subject to more regulations than other public buses, the drivers of which work under a setoran (revenue quota) system and passengers can board and get off anywhere they like.

The first “corridor” opened on Jan. 15, 2004, serving Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, passing the business district along Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman. Transjakarta became the first busway in Indonesia, even the first in Southeast and South Asia.

Charging a fare of Rp 3,500 (24 US cents), the buses initially attracted only those who usually rode the older public buses, but slowly the busway began to gain popularity among middle-income white collar workers as well.

Now, it has transformed into a company managing hundreds of buses plying 13 corridors and several feeder routes. Fifteen years into service, the buses have become the backbone of the city’s transportation.

President director Agung Wicaksono told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview that the company is now boasting healthy growth. “In 2015, we had 300 buses, but by the end of 2018 we had 900 buses. The number of passengers in the past three years has also grown 23 percent,” he said.

The number includes smaller buses “feeding” passengers to the main corridors. The company served 155 feeder routes and 189.77 million passengers last year. It aims at serving 231 million passengers by the end of this year by opening 80 new routes.

Just like any new system, however, Transjakarta is not without faults. The buses have caught fire while carrying passengers. Some corridors also have large headway, making passengers wait for a long time for a bus to arrive.

Many of the shelters and footbridges are in dire need of a revamp and better facilities for pedestrians.

But, for better or worse, the busway has changed the way Jakartans see buses. First, it changed the way people saw roads, which were reserved for private vehicles, especially cars. With exclusive busway lanes, the system introduced the perspective that roads should be reserved for public transit.

Second, it changed the way the crews of public buses served passengers.

Before Transjakarta, Jakartans relied on big buses operated by companies like state-owned Damri and Mayasari Bhakti, as well as smaller buses operated by Metro Mini and Kopaja. The bus drivers work under a system called setoran, in which they have to meet a certain revenue quota every day and can take home the rest. With this system, many drivers wait for passengers anywhere they like, especially at busy spots like schools and markets.

Transjakarta scrapped the system and offered an attractive monthly salary for drivers instead. It also offered a career path.

This policy also faced rejection. Only days into the service in 2004, several drivers protested the new system, but after some years many thought the system was better not only for the passengers but also for their welfare too.

One long-time driver of Transjakarta is 46-year-old Mahmudi. He has been driving Transjakarta buses for 13 years, since the service began operating on Corridor 1. He began his career as a driver at the age of 18, driving a Transjakarta bus in 2005. He became a permanent employee in 2015.

Now, Mahmudi is a master driver. There are only 10 master drivers among the around 1,000 regular drivers. Mahmudi said master drivers bear bigger responsibilities compared to regular ones.

“I never thought there was a career path for a driver like me,” he said.

On the other side of the service, there are also loyal customers who have been counting on Transjakarta for years. Among them is Eka Mutri, who has been taking Transjakarta buses to commute from her house in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, to anywhere in the city in the past nine years.

“I used to take the Transjakarta bus to go to my campus in Kuningan [South Jakarta] and now I ride it to reach my office on Jl. Sudirman [Central Jakarta],” said the Tanjung Priok resident.

“Today I only have to wait for a few minutes for the next bus to arrive. The various routes enable me to go anywhere for only Rp 3,500. No traffic, no buskers and vendors — what’s not to love?” she added.

Another customer, Cornelia Halim, has been using Transjakarta since 2010. She was happy with the improvements and because she was a frequent user of Corridor 1 she said she would be among the first to enjoy new improvements.

“When there’s an upgrade, like a new bus or service, Corridor 1 is often prioritized,” the 26-year-old said.