Transjakarta Busway

The Transjakarta busway (known locally as 'busway' or 'TIJE') is Jakarta's bus rapid transit system and, after two decades of expansion, the backbone of getting around the city on public transport. It launched in 2004 with a single route. It now runs 14 main BRT corridors on dedicated central lanes, said to be the longest such network in the world, alongside hundreds of feeder and cross-city routes reaching the satellite towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

Buses travel on segregated lanes and stop only at raised, enclosed stations reached by pedestrian bridges. The main corridors now operate 24 hours a day; the overnight service, branded AMARI, covers the trunk network between 22:00 and 05:00. Most feeder routes run roughly 05:00 to 22:00. On major religious holidays the start time shifts later, so check before travelling.

Fares and payment

The system is entirely cashless. Paper tickets, ticket windows and turnstile guards are gone. You tap an electronic-money card at the station gate, or scan a QR code from the JakLingko app; on non-BRT buses you tap a machine near the door as you board.

The standard fare is a flat Rp3,500, unchanged since 2005, with an early-bird fare of Rp2,000 for taps between 05:00 and 07:00. A proposal to raise the base fare to Rp5,000 was under discussion through 2026 but had not taken effect at the time of writing. Mikrotrans microbus feeders remain free, and under a 2025 Jakarta regulation rides are free for fifteen categories of passenger, including the elderly and people with disabilities.

The development that matters most if you move around the city is fare integration. Transjakarta, the MRT and the LRT lines share the JakLingko system: a single journey combining these modes within a three-hour window is capped at a maximum of Rp10,000, rather than paying each leg separately.

One practical warning. Foreign contactless bank cards (Visa or Mastercard tap-to-pay) are not accepted anywhere on the network. You need a local electronic-money card, such as Mandiri e-Money, BCA Flazz, BNI TapCash, BRI Brizzi or a JakLingko card, or the JakLingko app linked to a local wallet. Cards are sold at station vending machines, minimarkets and banks, and there is no residency requirement to buy one.

Busway etiquette

Stand aside at the doors and let passengers off before you board. In practice the crowd often pushes, so mind the gap and hold your footing at busy stations. Give up your seat for a pregnant woman, a passenger with a small child, or an elderly person. A women-only area at the front of the bus, marked in pink, has existed since 2011; on-board staff manage conduct and will remove disruptive passengers.

Routes

Any printed route list dates quickly. The network is re-evaluated constantly, with corridors extended, feeder routes added and overlapping services cut. For live routes, stop locations and real-time bus positions, use the official TJ: Transjakarta or JakLingko app rather than a fixed map.

Contributor: Jakartass

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