Bintaro Travel and Transportation: Then and Now

Hola!

I live in Bintaro and I love it so much!

My attraction to Bintaro began in the early 90s, from a campus friend. She lives in Bintaro and we were gathering at her house for a campus work. That time, Bintaro Jaya was only up to the viaduct -- or railway bridge. The area beyond that is still a no man's land.....

I've been persuading my mom to move to Bintaro (I used to live in Duren Tiga -- a family home since the 1970s), she always refused. Its too far, there's nothing there, difficult to reach, traffic jam and the big bang was: ITU TEMPAT JIN BUANG ANAK TAU!

Then, I met my husband. Who happens to live in Bintaro and my love for Bintaro grows even deeper. It's just a seems like a perfect place to stay for me. Far away from the busy streets, lots of trees, laid back environment and still cool in the mornings and evenings.

Yes, there were problems such as traffic jams and distance from the modern world -- but at home we have to leave all that right?

Anyhow, after we got married, hubby and I rent a house in Sektor 9 - Jl. Kucica. Small house, but its home for us. Then the family grew bigger, our daughter was born and we move to a slightly bigger house in Puri Bintaro, still in the Sektor 9 area. Two years later, my son joined the gang and we live in Puri Bintaro ever since. It's just felt right, our neighbours are mostly young couples with small children, so our children are friends with them.

I just love Sektor 9! It has almost everything I want, back then. There's a 24 hr McDonald around the corner and lots of food tents/stalls behind it. It's close to the RS International Bintaro too. I wouldn't want to move to other areas.

First year I become a Bintaro-ers, it was quite hectic in the mornings. Must leave home very early to be able to arrive at work at 8am. Must be willing to spend very long hours just to get home from office. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

There already is a commuter train route to Bintaro (to Merak and Serpong actually) but it was only a single track and very old and ugly train. Packed to the roof everytime. So, that's not a transportation option. There are only 2 bus routes (not even a bus to be honest) from Jakarta to Bintaro. One is Kopaja S613 from Blok M to Sektor 3 (then to Sektor 7), which takes around 2.5 hours one way trip in a good day. It goes through Cipulir, Pesanggrahan and then back to Bintaro Raya, Jl. Kesehatan and so on. Another one is the Angkot S08 from Lebak Bulus to Pondok Aren. This one is quicker, but more expensive.

Both are not options for my daily commuting. Taxi? besides its expensive there were no Blue Bird pool close enough Bintaro to ease our travel. Most of the time, the Blue Bird that took us in the morning are the night shift that are resting after taking their guest home from Jakarta to Bintaro and that causes lots of nervousness because the driver are not alert enough to drive.

Traffic jam from Bintaro to Jakarta was notoriously hideous! It teaches Bintaro-ers to be patience, rule-abiding drivers and tolerant. There were days where we can only go to Gear 2 all the way from home to Blok M. And if we took a taxi from Blok M to Bintaro, the fare from Blok M to Jalan Kesehatan (in the entrance of Bintaro Jaya) cost around IDR 9,000, while from Jalan Kesehatan to Sektor 9 Bintaro Jaya cost around IDR 25,000. Distance-wise probably the same, but the time and cost....definitely more.

Enough about that time. Let's fast forward to Bintaro Jaya in the mid 2000s.

Bintaro Jaya is a far cry from tempat jin buang anak. It's a city within the suburb and most importantly access has been tremendously increased for the better. Now:
We have toll road (which recent tariff increased spurred a class action movement, initiated proudly, by a Bintaroans); the toll road though enable easy access to the eastern and northern part of Jakarta, as well as Bogor, Bekasi, Cikampek and Bandung, great eh?
We have shuttle commuter busses, the Trans Bintaro;
We have double-track railway with executive trains running from Serpong to the main thoroughfare of Jakarta, Stasium Sudirman; we have pick-up service to and from the airport and now to Bandung as well.
We have a blue bird taxi pool in Bintaro (those Blue Birds with JU and MU serial numbers)

Bintaro has become a very convenient place to live. Yes, its still not Jakarta; yes we have benteng (fort) in our KTP (ID card) instead of Monas; yes, we must list our city as Tangerang as oppose to Jakarta. But all that will not make us second class citizens to those who still live in the cramped crowded capital city called Jakarta (wow..that's a lot of C's).

What usually took me 1.5 hour to go to the office in Kemang, now it only took maximum 40 minutes. I usually wouldn't think of going to Jakarta after 5pm before, but now if I have an invitation, I can go home, shower, go to salon and then depart for Jakarta again. Well, not often though, as the toll road is beginning to be a bit too packed in certain hours.

The ultimate point is that Bintaro certainly has evolves from just another suburb in the south of Jakarta to become one of the most sought after place to live in Greater Jakarta.

Now, it is the Bintaro Jaya Management office's job to ensure that people will still happy living in Bintaro Jaya. They must listen to their residence's voice and cater their needs. If not....BSD is still wide open for Bintaroans.