Carpool Jockeys - Neatorama

There are young women and men standing by the busy streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, waiting for drivers to pick them up for $1. Prostitutes? Nay, they are car jockeys who help car owners beat the congested city's carpooling laws:

When this city of epic traffic jams started carpooling a while back, it inadvertently gave birth to an entirely new profession: jockey.
For less than a dollar, car owners hire one or two jockeys to gain access to stretches of the city’s “3 in 1,” high-occupancy lanes. The jockey is essentially an extra passenger who helps commuters circumvent carpooling rules, making the ride into central Jakarta slightly less slow.

Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times' Jakarta Journal has the story: Link (Photo: Ed Wray for the New York Times)

That's like casual carpooling between Oakland and San Francisco. Only there, it's commuters catching rides with other commuters for free. Cars can go over the Bay Bridge for free during rush hour and everyone wins.

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This is hardly new. The exact same thing was happening in Los Angeles 25 years ago, when the car pool lanes were new there. Still does, for all I know. Except here, they were generally kids skipping school, and they charged enough to spend the day in the arcade.

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That's brilliant !

Sure beats the guy with the mannikin...

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They do this every day on the way in and out of Washington D.C. It's called "slugging". It's totally legal, encouraged by the government, and it's free. There are even designated "slugging" locations and rules of conduct. A lot of the people I worked with in DC do it everyday. They get in a car and just listen to their ipod. They never have any problems.

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Prostitution and car-jockeying. Who says they can't do both?

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Carpool lanes CAUSE congestion. They DECREASE capacity on the streets and slow traffic. They cause more POLLUTION, not prevent it.

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while we're on the subject, have you guys watched this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w9cKFiCrSU

from the director of Validation.

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Wow! In Houston we don't charge anything. Since our bus system is connected to and uses the carpool lanes, we just pick people up at the metro stations and head downtown (since all of our park and rides head downtown). On the way home we stop at the bus routes along this one central street and ask who wants to get to our part of town. It's pretty efficient actually. And free. Plus you meet interesting people since it's always business men and women.

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The difference between the US and Indonesian riders is that in Indonesia the riders are only going along for the money and not because they need a ride.

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Satu Dolar...? Mahal!!! Boleh Tawar, ya...? ;-)

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Re Foreigner1

Kau buleh kan? Tak boleh, harga pas!

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@ Tintin

:-)Berpikir... Boleh - Jalan jalan ya!

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