Jakarta Globe, Tasa Nugraza Barley & Marcel Thee | October 27, 2010
“Jakarta is hell.” Strong words from Aidil Akbar, who works as a video editor.
Aidil is not alone in expressing this sentiment. For all intents and purposes, his familiarity with Jakarta traffic should have prepared him for Monday’s gridlock.
Heavy rains coupled with the city’s notoriously chaotic street layout and backed upsewers led to extreme flooding, drawing traffic to a stand still.
To cope with the situation, some people used their smartphones to vent on micro-blogging site Twitter.
One of the night’s popular topics on the site among Indonesian users was a play on words using Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo’s nickname, Foke, and an expression used for cursing.
“There was a lot of urinating on the streets, I can tell you that,” said Mayke Wauran,a pharmacy employee, without a hint of humor in her voice.
She witnessed a fair share of pedestrians fall down while navigating floodwater snear her home in Sunter, North Jakarta.
Office worker Melisa Kurniawan and her colleagues waited until 11 p.m. to leave Ratu Plaza in Sudirman, thinking that traffic would be much better then. The situation was still bad.
Roseline Setyono, who works in the Kuningan area, said that many of her colleagues also opted to wait things out at the office because their carpool took “six hours to arrive here from Kelapa Gading.”
Amelia, who didn’t want to use her real name, summed up her frustration on Twitter: “I hope the governor is stuck in traffic, wants to go to the bathroom, has to drive alone, his gas low, his air-conditioning dead and all his cellphones are low on battery.”
Commuters were not the only ones who were affected. The gridlock also had an impact onthe business sector.
Roy Siregar, owner of steak restaurant Frenzo in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta,said that traffic hurt his business badly.
“My sales dropped by as much as 50 percent last Monday,” he said. “I assume people were stuck in their cars or offices and they couldn’t go anywhere.”
Dede Haris, who does marketing for bar and club Barcode in Kemang, South Jakarta,also blamed the traffic jam for the drop in customers.
“We had a very significant drop in the number of guests who came to our place,” hesaid.
Dede himself was also stuck in traffic.
Even though he believes that being on a motorcycle is the fastest option to getaround the city, he still spent three hours on his motorbike from Kemang toKuningan, South Jakarta. “I’m speechless, it was just crazy,” he said.
Monday’s gridlock proved to be a test that had even the sturdiest of Jakartans shaking their fists at the sky.
With the situation bound to repeat itself, here are a few survival tips on how to beatthe traffic blues, should you find yourself, once again, stuck in your vehicle for hours on end.
Have a good collection of music on hand
Music can make a three-hour drive end up feeling like, well, a two-hour drive.
“A good collection of music is a life saver. Even if it’s loud heavy metal, at least you can get the anger out of your system. A calmer collection is recommended, though,” video editor Aidil said, adding that it helped him get through histwo-and-a-half hour ordeal on Monday.
Stock upon beverages
It’s a good idea to have your favorite drinks and some snacks handy in your car incase you find yourself stuck in traffic again.
Stretch to relieve stress
Yelling at cars who are also stuck in front of yours won’t do any good. Instead, take a deep breath and try to calm down.
It is also good to do some simple and easy stretching exercises inside your car.
“You’ll be surprised to find how easy and simple moves can make you feel better,” said Budi, a fitness instructor.
Budi suggests the following exercises. With your eyes closed, put both of your arms up above your head and stretch them to the right and then to the left.
Then move your head up, down, left and right.
Try to avoid stiffness in your fingers. Starting with the right hand, gently extend the fingers back, one by one. Take them all back at the same time. Stretch out both your hands, make a fist and slowly open them up.
Don’t forget to move your legs too. While sitting, pull up your knees for a few seconds, first with the left, then the right.
Go to the office prepared
If you live far from the office, bring along items that you would normally do for a sleepover.
Try tobe on good terms with colleagues who live close to the office and wouldn’t mind taking you in for the night.
If you live near where you work, be nice and offer your colleagues a place for the night.
If you have no friends at the office, check out nearby accommodations.
“A female friend of mine walked four kilometers alone because no ojek [motorcycletaxi] was willing to go through the traffic,” office worker Melisa said, adding that she and her husband ended up letting that friend and a few others stay at their home for the night.
Familiarize yourself with your vehicle
When you’re exhausted after a long day at the office, all you want to do is go home and rest, so a nasty traffic jam can certainly pose a headache.
In your rush to get home, you may find yourself doing things, like splashing through deep puddles.
But think before you do anything that may endanger you and those around you.
There is also your vehicle to think of. “You have to make sure that your car is fit to face traffic jams that can last for hours,” car mechanic Adela said.
“You have to know how deep the puddle is before you cross over,” he said, adding that generally, the water level should be below half of your wheel height.
He said that cars mostly have their air intake channels located near the back fender, which are low enough to absorb water.
Getting water inside your car is the last thing that you want to happen. If you drive through a deep puddle and your car sucks water up, “it’s what we call a water hammer.”
“Things can get really ugly,” Adela said. “Chances are, your engine will break and you’ll end up paying a lot of money to fix it.”
He added that if you think it’s safe to go through a puddle, it’s very important to keep your car moving at a constant speed without going too fast.
Otherwise, you risk water getting into the car’s muffler. If your car stalls, you can pullover and try to dry the machine.
But if the car is severely damaged, you will have to call a tow truck.
Let your cellular phone be your savior
Make sure your phone’s battery is always fully charged. Buying a car charger for your phone may be a good idea.
You definitely don’t want to risk not being able to make an important call whenyou’re stuck in traffic.
Your phone can also be your source of entertainment while waiting.
Not only can you read articles on online news portals, but you can also check up-to-date information about the current traffic situation on Twitter accounts, such as@tmcpoldametro, @infoll and @lewatmana.
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