Go-Jek a mobility revolution for Jakarta
Ranked as the city with the worst traffic by Castrol’s Stop-Start Index, Jakarta’s congestion is a huge pain. For decades, the Indonesian government has failed to curtail the capital city’s gridlock nightmare, which has only continued to create negative economic implications on business.
By Christin Huang
But thanks to revolutionary technology platforms, transportation in Jakarta may become smoother.
On January this year, Go-Jek officially unveiled its mobile application for iOS and Android, letting users order “ojek” – or motorcycle taxis – from their smartphones for personal transportation, courier and food services.
Businesses and commuters aren’t the only ones receiving the benefits of Go-jek. Drivers say that their income skyrocketed since joining the company, which now employs over 2,500 drivers in Jakarta.
“Back then, when I drove a (regular) ojek it was hard to even earn 50,000 rupiah in a day. Now with Go-Jek I can earn 150,000 to 200,000 rupiah a day,” Zulkarnain, a Go-Jek driver, told Coconuts Jakarta.
“[Before I joined], my friend said the earnings were pretty good and we don’t have to fight over passengers,” he continued.
Jakarta’s current government has asked Go-Jek to create another app called Go-Truck to solve the city’s docking bottlenecks.
“We’re considering an expansion by gathering truck drivers, for instance. This is because Ojek drivers aren’t the only one that needs mobile app. Just you wait,” Nadiem Makarim, Go-Jek’s CEO, told tech blog Daily Social.
However, Go-Jek is not alone on the Indonesia’s market. GrabTaxi officially launched GrabBike in late May, creating a competition in the country’s nascent ride-sharing service industry.
Charging 5,000 rupiah ($0.36) for pick-up and delivery in Jakarta area, GrabBike has successfully grabbed the attention of 8,000 users from its launch date.
But both applications are still considered new in Indonesia, and new customers need incentives to enter their credit card details.
“Both of them (Go-Jek and GrabBike) are still offering many promotions, so most likely I’m going to take advantage of both of these applications when I need a ride. I’ll take whichever available when I need an ojek. But after the promotion period, if the regular ojek is cheaper, I will definitely stick to it,” said Lala, an Indonesian blogger who has tried both Go-Jek and GrabBike.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has given full support to Go-Jek. During a session of the Dialog Komunitas Kreatif in South Jakarta on August 8 he mentioned that Go-Jek has been “successful in providing an efficient service to people.” Go-Jek’s founder Nadiem Makarim also attended the event.
Future plans are in the pipeline to integrate Go-Jek and GrabBike with Jakarta’s bus service TransJakarta, according to the company.
“We are going to cooperate with Go-Jek to build an application called ‘GoBusway,’ which can be downloaded on users’ smartphones,” said President Director of PT Transjakarta Antonius Kosasih.
Ranked as the city with the worst traffic by Castrol’s Stop-Start Index, Jakarta's congestion is a huge pain. For decades, the Indonesian government has failed to curtail the capital city’s gridlock nightmare, which has only continued to create negative economic implications on business. By Christin Huang But thanks to revolutionary technology platforms, transportation in Jakarta may become smoother. On January this year, Go-Jek officially unveiled its mobile application for iOS and Android, letting users order “ojek” – or motorcycle taxis – from their smartphones for personal transportation, courier and food services. Businesses and commuters aren’t the only ones receiving the...
Ranked as the city with the worst traffic by Castrol’s Stop-Start Index, Jakarta’s congestion is a huge pain. For decades, the Indonesian government has failed to curtail the capital city’s gridlock nightmare, which has only continued to create negative economic implications on business.
By Christin Huang
But thanks to revolutionary technology platforms, transportation in Jakarta may become smoother.
On January this year, Go-Jek officially unveiled its mobile application for iOS and Android, letting users order “ojek” – or motorcycle taxis – from their smartphones for personal transportation, courier and food services.
Businesses and commuters aren’t the only ones receiving the benefits of Go-jek. Drivers say that their income skyrocketed since joining the company, which now employs over 2,500 drivers in Jakarta.
“Back then, when I drove a (regular) ojek it was hard to even earn 50,000 rupiah in a day. Now with Go-Jek I can earn 150,000 to 200,000 rupiah a day,” Zulkarnain, a Go-Jek driver, told Coconuts Jakarta.
“[Before I joined], my friend said the earnings were pretty good and we don’t have to fight over passengers,” he continued.
Jakarta’s current government has asked Go-Jek to create another app called Go-Truck to solve the city’s docking bottlenecks.
“We’re considering an expansion by gathering truck drivers, for instance. This is because Ojek drivers aren’t the only one that needs mobile app. Just you wait,” Nadiem Makarim, Go-Jek’s CEO, told tech blog Daily Social.
However, Go-Jek is not alone on the Indonesia’s market. GrabTaxi officially launched GrabBike in late May, creating a competition in the country’s nascent ride-sharing service industry.
Charging 5,000 rupiah ($0.36) for pick-up and delivery in Jakarta area, GrabBike has successfully grabbed the attention of 8,000 users from its launch date.
But both applications are still considered new in Indonesia, and new customers need incentives to enter their credit card details.
“Both of them (Go-Jek and GrabBike) are still offering many promotions, so most likely I’m going to take advantage of both of these applications when I need a ride. I’ll take whichever available when I need an ojek. But after the promotion period, if the regular ojek is cheaper, I will definitely stick to it,” said Lala, an Indonesian blogger who has tried both Go-Jek and GrabBike.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has given full support to Go-Jek. During a session of the Dialog Komunitas Kreatif in South Jakarta on August 8 he mentioned that Go-Jek has been “successful in providing an efficient service to people.” Go-Jek’s founder Nadiem Makarim also attended the event.
Future plans are in the pipeline to integrate Go-Jek and GrabBike with Jakarta’s bus service TransJakarta, according to the company.
“We are going to cooperate with Go-Jek to build an application called ‘GoBusway,’ which can be downloaded on users’ smartphones,” said President Director of PT Transjakarta Antonius Kosasih.
