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On-demand drivers unite: 'Ojol' groups look out for each other, aid motorists
Aside from providing transportation and delivery services, on-demand motorcycle taxi drivers have formed their own communities to help each other as well as general motorists.
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Growing communities: A customer interacts with an 'ojol' (on-demand motorcycle taxi) driver in this handout photo from Grab Indonesia.
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lad in their black-and-green jackets and riding their motorcycles all around the city, a sense of camaraderie exists among the drivers of ojol (on-demand motorcycle taxis).
Most ojol drivers look out for their fellow drivers, regardless of which company they work for, while others have created mobile communities.
One such ojol community is the Balang Ijo (Green Cross) – a wordplay on Red Cross. The community was formed on Feb. 4, 2016 to build solidarity among ojol drivers and to provide first aid to members or other motorists on the road.
“The rate of motorcycle accidents is quite high, so we want to help everyone who has met with an accident,” Balang Ijo secretary Dadang Supriadi said on Sunday at a discussion organized by ride-hailing company Gojek.
The number of ojol drivers has continued to increase over the last few years, with some estimating that it now reaches more than 1 million in Greater Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta Traffic Police have recorded 5,400 traffic accidents that occurred in January-November 2018 in Greater Jakarta, 4,225 of which involved motorcycles.
Dadang said that Balang Ijo had about 40 key members – all Gojek drivers – and that five had been trained in first aid. He added that Balang Ijo had a WhatsApp group through which its members reported any traffic accidents they had spotted.
