How do I get around Jakarta?

Grab and Gojek run this city. You need both apps, because one often has surge pricing when the other doesn't. For distances under 8 km, GrabBike or GoRide (motorcycle taxi) is the correct choice. You sit on the back, the driver threads through gridlocked traffic on Jalan Sudirman, and a trip from Menteng to Glodok costs roughly Rp 12,000 to 18,000 (under $1 USD at 17,727 IDR to the dollar). The car option runs 3-5x the fare and takes twice as long in rush hour. Mind you, the motorcycle ride is loud, hot, and your knees will brush side mirrors on other bikes at red lights. Helmets are provided. Worth it.

MRT Jakarta opened in 2019 and runs one north-south line from Lebak Bulus through Bundaran HI toward Kota. Fares start at Rp 3,000 and cap around Rp 14,000. Trains are air-conditioned and arrive every 5-10 minutes during peak hours. Dukuh Atas station is the transfer hub, connecting to TransJakarta and the KRL Commuter Line. TransJakarta operates dedicated bus lanes on a flat Rp 3,500 fare across 13 corridors. The newer buses have working air conditioning. The older ones don't, and you ride with the windows down, catching diesel fumes and clove cigarette smoke from the lane beside you. Tap a Jaklingko card or any bank-issued e-money card at the turnstile. That same card works across the MRT, KRL, and TransJakarta, so load Rp 100,000 onto one and you're covered for 3-4 days.

Jakarta's traffic is not bad traffic. It is a different category of congestion. The 35 km from Soekarno-Hatta airport to Menteng takes 45 minutes at 5 AM and closer to 3 hours at 5 PM on a Friday. The Damri airport bus costs Rp 55,000 to Gambir station. The airport train, KAI Bandara, runs to BNI City station in the Sudirman corridor for Rp 70,000 in about 45 minutes. Take the train. From BNI City you can walk to the MRT at Dukuh Atas in 5 minutes. The worst traffic windows are 7-10 AM and 4-8 PM on weekdays. Plan your sightseeing around them or accept that you'll be sitting in an air-conditioned Grab watching Jakarta crawl past at walking pace. Weekends are noticeably lighter. Friday evenings are the worst of the worst.

Walking in Jakarta is an endurance sport. Sidewalks exist along the Sudirman central business district and around Merdeka Square. Everywhere else, you're stepping over broken concrete, squeezing past parked motorcycles, and crossing six-lane roads with no signal. September afternoons reach 33°C with humidity that pushes the felt temperature closer to 38°C, so limit walks to 10-15 minutes between air-conditioned stops. BlueBird is the one taxi company worth flagging down on the street. The pale blue sedans use meters (Rp 6,500 flagfall, Rp 4,000 per km), and the drivers are reliable. Other taxi brands are a gamble. Avoid bajaj, the orange three-wheeled motors, for anything beyond a 1 km hop around Kota Tua. They're unmetered, loud enough to rattle your teeth, and the quoted fare tends to run 3x what a Grab would charge for the same distance.