“Sorry, where are we now?” Tommy, 40, asked, on board an MRT train traveling from Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle Station in Central Jakarta to Senayan Station in South Jakarta on Saturday.

Tommy, who is visually impaired, was trying out the MRT for the first time. He said he could not hear clearly the station announcements because of the noise of the train.

“The announcement was unclear. They should increase the volume because it is very useful for us,” he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday at an MRT trial run event for disabled people.

Around 100 people with disabilities, ranging from those with visual and hearing impairments to wheelchair users participated in the event. Some of them captured the journeys on their phones while evaluating the facilities, such as elevators, ticket machines, ramps and toilets.

The wheelchair users first took the elevator, which could accommodate two wheelchairs, to get to the platform. The elevator also had braille symbols.

“However, the elevator has no voice guidance, so we do not know whether the elevator doors are open or closed,” Tommy said.

With Tommy’s limited ability to see, he added he could barely make out the tactile paving at the stations since they were grey rather than yellow, as is the usual practice.

“I wonder why they chose gray tactile paving. That’s not very helpful for those with partial loss of vision,” the Pondok Gede, East Jakarta resident said.

Sofia Muchtar, 54, a wheelchair user, said the MRT Jakarta facilities were good but not as good as in other countries, such as Hong Kong.

“There is [almost] no gap between the platforms and doors of the Hong Kong MRT. I was not afraid of my wheelchair getting stuck. However, the gap between the doors of MRT Jakarta and the platforms is too wide,” Sofia said.

Sofia said the MRT management should have portable ramps on platforms with an official on standby to assist people who needed it.

Another wheelchair user, M. Subhan, 31, highlighted other problems. He said despite having special spaces for wheelchair users on the train, its high speed meant they could be jolted because there were no belts to restrain the wheelchairs.

“I’ve tried the MRT in South Korea. They have wheel locks on the floor. We must hold the grip very tightly if there are no wheel locks or belts. Not all disabled people can hold the grip like this,” Subhan said.

Subhan who lives in Pasar Induk, East Jakarta, uses his own vehicle to get to his office in Central Jakarta every day. However, he said he wanted to switch to public transportation as the MRT provided adequate facilities for the disabled.

“Disabled people also want to reduce traffic congestion in Jakarta. The MRT overall already has good facilities for us. I can say that they have designed everything by taking into account our needs,” he said.

Silvia Halim, construction director at city-owned PT MRT Jakarta, said it had taken many aspects into account, however, she said they still had a lot of room for improvements.

“We would like to hear their impression of our facilities. We will evaluate them and improve them one by one. We’ll see what issues we can resolve as soon as possible while working on the difficult ones,” Silvia told the Post.

Regarding the input they received at the event, Silvia said the company would consider providing a portable ramp for passengers with wheelchairs and changing the tactile paving color.

It would also consider providing belts to lock wheelchairs in place inside the train, increasing the volume of announcements and providing voice guidance in the elevators.

Silvia added that MRT Jakarta already had a procedure to assist disabled passengers by assigning personnel at each station to help and direct them to the most accessible position on the train.

“The personnel will ask where they are heading to and notify officers at the station to assist them when they arrive,” she said.

Silvia went on to say the MRT aimed to be the most disabled passenger-friendly transportation mode, enabling them to travel with a minimum of assistance or even none at all.

“Our aim is to make them as independent as possible,” Silvia said. (ggq)

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