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Bekasi residents now flag down ‘angkot’ through their phones
Some believe the software brings Bekasi one step closer to being a smart city.
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Worlds apart: A TRON driver-partner pulls over to pick up a passenger in Bekasi, West Java. The new service combines the old vans that have been roaming Indonesian cities for decades with modern technology. (The Jakarta Post/Dames Alexander Sinaga )
R
esidents of Bekasi in West Java have found a new app that saves them money, time and nerves as they no longer have to put up with the problem of ngetem, when an angkot (public minivan) stops too long to wait for passengers.
Some believe the software brings Bekasi one step closer to being a smart city.
The app, tron, has won over many of the city’s residents with its low price and high reliability after nearly a month-long trial run.
Tetri Nelly Manalu, a housewife living in Rawalumbu, East Bekasi, even ditched other popular ride-hailing apps since last week, as she found tron was cheaper and more convenient for her to pick up her youngest daughter from kindergarten.
“It’s just cheap. I hope the price won’t change,” the 44-year-old said while showing The Jakarta Post the app in action on Wednesday.
After booking a ride using the app, Tetri walked some 50 meters to get to the closest so-called virtual stop, called halte virtual. The app also informed her that the minivan would arrive in 3 minutes.
The virtual stops are created by the app operator; they can be located anywhere, not necessarily at physical bus stops.
