Changing the habit: taking public transport

On 3–4 May 2024 I decided to take a holiday in Jakarta. One of the reasons: I wanted a holiday riding trains. The KRL, the MRT, the LRT, all of them.

I got a morning flight from Bali and landed at Soetta airport at 9am. Straight away I rushed off to buy an e-money card, because as far as I knew it's the magic card you need if you want to live in Jakarta. But I searched every mini-mart at Soetta and couldn't find one.

I thought I'd need the e-money card to buy a ticket for the airport train, but no. When I got to the Alfamart at the airport train station, there was a ticket machine for the airport train right next to it. So I got on the airport train with a Rp70,000 ticket. Same price as the last time I was in Jakarta.

That was the first train of the trip. My final stop was Lebak Bulus, so I decided to get off at BNI City station. In my head, this station had to be really nice, it has "city" in the name. And it was nice. Turns out all the MRT stations are nice, even without "city" in the name.

Getting off at Dukuh Atas BNI and transferring to the MRT at BNI City for the first time, it turns out you go down underground. I still didn't have an e-money card at this point, and when I asked the security guard, he said I could buy a single-trip card for Rp6,000. But luckily, inside the station, the Alfamart still had BNI e-money cards for sale.

Too bad only BNI e-money cards were left, because I think BNI's e-money is a real hassle. You have to top up through their mobile banking app first, then update the balance with another app. Hopefully BNI sorts this out.

Once I had the e-money card, the rest of the train trip was super easy and comfortable. Just tap, tap, tap.

The stations are comfortable too, but sadly there aren't many seats. Maybe they could add lean benches. Or maybe that's just me complaining. Hehe.

My first MRT ride was memorable too, because it's clean and comfortable. I just got a bit tired of hearing "Lebak Bulus Grab, Lebak Bulus Grab". Another way for KAI to make money, I guess.

What surprised me at first was how quickly it stopped at the next station. So I timed it with my watch: 1–2 minutes per station. The closest pair was Blok M – ASEAN (as far as I remember, that's the closest). The whole ride from BNI City to Lebak Bulus Grab only took about 25 minutes.

I also worked out what it would cost with Gojek or Grab. About 55k by Grab or Gojek, versus 14k on the MRT. Cheaper and more comfortable, so it's totally worth getting around on public transport like this.

After the MRT, I decided to try the KRL. The KRL is way more brutal, in the sense that it's so packed people have to stand. It hit me hard, because I once mentioned the KRL rush-hour crush in this post.

Inside, the KRL is just as comfortable. It's just that the KRL covers a wider area, so a lot more people use it, which means this kind of public transport is really needed. To everyone working in Jakarta, one word from me: KEEP GOING!

I didn't take many photos on this trip, but on the way home to Bali, on the train back to Soetta, I took this one and it got me thinking: maybe we really can change the habit and take public transport. As for me in Bali, I'm waiting for an MRT in Bali so I can get to Canggu faster, hehehe.