Tag: Jakarta Travel Tips

A New Star of Jakarta Transportation, Lintas Rel Terpadu

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It has not been long ago that this new form of Jakarta Transportation, LRT was operated. The light rail transit, or in Indonesian version, Lintas Rel Terpadu, had been officially operating since the end of December 2019, but LRT Jabodetabek just officially operating September this year. Since it is the first LRT in Jakarta and in Indonesia, the citizens are excited to try it, so the government allowed a free trial before its official release.

This form of Jakarta Transportation are relatively new for the citizen, so they already prepared with a full instruction on how to buy ticket and ride the LRT on their website: https://www.lrtjakarta.co.id/informasi-tiket.html . LRT Jabodetabek is receiving a warm welcome as it will provide more option for people to commute beside other Jakarta Transportation such as Transjakarta Busway and KRL.

The newly operated LRT connects Jakarta and Bekasi. The stations and the routes are built near busy places such as office complexes in Sudirman area, including Halim that also functioned as airports, to TMII, which was a tourist attraction where people can see a “mini” version of Indonesia. However, other routes and line are to be established to reach more areas in Bogor, Depok, and Tangerang.

No different with other Jakarta Transportation, an electric money card or digital banking are needed to pay and ride the LRT. However, it could be a little costly among other Jakarta Transportation, as the costs is more expensive, which is IDR5000 for first kilometer, and IDR700 will be charged for the next kilometers. It is almost equal to USD1.5 for the furthest trip.

Although this form of Jakarta Transportation is intended to solve traffic problems in Jakarta, some people might still choose to ride KRL or MRT instead because of the price. We still don’t know if there will be adjustments in the future as the establishment for the next phase is not completed yet. We hope that as time goes on, it will improve greatly to cater to people’s needs.

Now that you know about Jakarta Transportation, ready to explore Jakarta by riding public transportation? Or you would rather walk with us? That is fine, join us with Jakarta Walking Tour and we will take you on an adventure to the nook and cranny of Jakarta!

Lost in Jakarta Translation

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One day, you have read or heard somewhere that is better to come prepared when you are about to travel to foreign countries. So, you have done your research, learnt the language of the countries you’ll visit, and are ready to drag your luggage to the airport. Once you arrived, you were just about to use the language that you learned, but, alas, what they speak is totally different than what you learned. It is not definite, but the chance is big for to happen as you step into Jakarta City.

Instead of hearing “saya”, “tidak”, “nanti”, and etc as a standard Indonesian formal language, you will hear a tad foreign term like “gue”, “ngga”, “ntar, etc. These words are derived from Betawi language, a dialect that is often used by native Jakartans.  So, don’t be surprised if it is different than formal Indonesian that you learned. Aside from that, there are also many new popular terms that are made from abbreviations. For example, “mantul” that is formed from “mantap betul”, or literally means “really excellent”.

As a country with more than 1.300 ethnicities, Indonesian that live throughout the country speaks in dialect in their hometown, so they are relatively easy to adapt and absorb new languages. Not only they can speak in dialects, but they are also capable of speaking in Indonesian standard language or relatively known as “bahasa baku”. In Central or East Java for example, you will hear most people speak in Javanese. Even other than Java Island, people from different ethnicities most probably speak in their own dialects in their respective hometown.

So, if you hear Indonesian speaks most in dialects but you are going to ask for directions and you have only learned the Indonesian language, don’t be afraid, while they are speaking in dialects for daily conversations, most will understand if you speak in formal Indonesian standard language.

Or, if you are not convinced enough, just use English to be safe. Citizens who work in service industries most probably undergone training for English language and some locals are excited to speak to foreigners to practice their English. So, don’t be afraid to engage in conversation with locals!

Introducing The Jakarta Transportation Mode, Transjakarta Busway

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Once you step into Jakarta City, you will see a lot of vehicles on the street. As the capital city, the city has a very dense population. This causes a lot of traffic congestion problems in many parts of Jakarta. With the intention to solve this problem, the government came up with a plan to provide proper Jakarta Transportation to make the citizens choose to opt out using private vehicles. Therefore, the Transjakarta Busway was established. For a glance of this mode of transportation, please check here: https://www.jakartawalkingtour.com/transjakarta-bus/

Since its establishment, the Jakarta Transportation has undergone a lot of changes and improvement. From the number of corridors, tracks, and even bus type, size, and colors. As for now, the Transjakarta Busway has established more than 14 corridors around Jakarta. The integration map of those corridors can be found here: https://transjakarta.co.id/peta-rute/ The bus type has divided to BRT (rapid transit bus) and non-BRT. The BRT bus will stop and depart from normal Busway shelters that spread around Jakarta, meanwhile the non-BRT bus will also stop and depart at bus stops with a sign at the side of the streets.

Aside from only Jakarta Transportation, there are also Transjabodetabek that cater to commuters that live outside Jakarta as in Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi. This reflects on the corridors’ number code, for example, B11, that runs along the route of Bekasi to Jakarta on corridor 11. S for Serpong, T for Tangerang, C for Cibubur, and so on.

The fare is relatively cheap for Indonesian, with IDR3500 per person and no additional charge for transiting between corridors. An electric money card is needed as a payment method to ride the bus. Nowadays, most of the buses use gas as their fuel and buses which use gas have a blue color paint on the bodies. Some of them are electric buses, and the color is soft green.

The operational hours for this Jakarta Transportation vary depending on the corridors. The earliest departure is from 5AM and the latest is 12AM. One thing that a visitor must notice is, there are a special double decker buses with a special route for tourists that want to see around the roads in Jakarta while riding buses with the best view. It is better known as “Jakarta Explorer” with seven options for route theme. You can choose to explore history, culinary and art, modern Jakarta, and so on. Say no more, prepare your card, tap in, and you are ready to go!

Going Around Jakarta with Jakarta Transportation

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Along with the continuous development of Jakarta as a capital city, Jakarta Transportation also undergoes a lot of improvements as today. There are already many options to go around Jakarta using public transportation.

Jakarta Transportation is divided into two types, intra-city and inter-city transportation. For intra-city transportation in Jakarta area, we have Transjakarta, Microtrans, and MRT (Mass Rapid Transit/Moda Raya Terpadu). These types of transportation modes are provided to people who want to go around within the Jakarta area. Transjakarta are big buses that you can ride from the Transjakarta Busway shelters, Microtrans is smaller vehicles like car or used to called “angkutan kota”, and MRT is train like transportation that you can ride from subway stations.

For intercity of Jakarta Transportation, there are options like KRL Commuter Line, LRT (Light Rail Transit/Lintas Rel Terpadu), and also Transjabodetabek. These modes are intended to provide transportation for people outside Jakarta area, including Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, hence the name of “Jabodetabek” area, as many people commute from other cities while working in Jakarta or vice versa. The routes and fares for each mode are usually provided on their respective websites.

These modes of Jakarta Transportation are meant to provide people with decent public transportation so people will opt out using private vehicles to solve traffic congestion problems in Jakarta. The fares are relatively affordable for Indonesians, starting from IDR3500 or less than 1USD. You can even ride for free on Microtrans as long as you carry an electronic money card.

Stay tuned for more information about how to ride, routes, and fares for Jakarta Transportation. See you in the next articles!

Should I Buy Indonesia SIM Card?

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Yes, you should buy an Indonesia SIM Card if you need to contact someone or make an internet connection through your phone when travel to Jakarta. Why is it important to buy a SIM card? Sometimes people need to contact you or otherwise, you need to contact your family, but you can not use your original SIM card in Jakarta, Indonesia, then the best option is to buy a new one to use temporarily. Find out more reason here.

1. SIM Cards In Jakarta Are Cheap

Since the competition between providers is really strong, they try to offer services with reasonable price to win over new consumers. So, you don’t have to worry about the prices. It is quite affordable even for a local citizen, except if you want to buy a SIM card with specially arranged numbers or known as “nomor cantik”. For a normal number, you can get it for IDR 20k or IDR 30k for one SIM card.

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2. An Easy Way To Contact Someone

Maybe you could contact your original SIM card provider to change the setting to make it available to use when you go to Jakarta. But just in case the service is unavailable, it will be more convenient for you buy a new SIM card instead in Jakarta for a temporary use.

3. Always Connect To The Internet

You should buy a new SIM Card if you always want to be able to contact someone, or you need to connect to the internet all the time. Of course there are some places that provide WiFi in Jakarta, but you cannot always find them. Maybe you can find them in restaurants, hotels, and malls. But if you are eating at a “warteg”, just don’t expect to find it. Besides, sometimes connecting to a WiFi will only get you a slow connection because many people connect to it as well.

There are many providers in Jakarta, but the recommended ones are Telkomsel, Indosat, or XL because they are big players and already covered many areas beside other providers. You can buy SIM cards in public places like malls, stations or cellphone stores near residential areas. It is quite easy to find actually.

So, have you decided what to buy? Then go straight to the store. Buy that SIM Card, use it in your phone,  and don’t forget to add Jakarta Walking Tour number in your contact list 😉