Video of Jakarta's pink bus only for women goes viral, internet says ‘men should just learn to behave in public’

Last year in July, Jakarta’s bus rapid transit service called TransJakarta resumed the operation of its special pink buses for women passengers, after a few years pause due to the coronavirus. In case you don’t know, the pink bus is designed to provide female passengers with safe means of transportation in Indonesia. By safe they intend to keep the services free from sexual harassment or other problems. As per an Indonesian news agency Antara, the announcement of services being kick-started was made by TranJakarta’s public relations officer Wibowo at Pasar Baru Bus stop on 25 July 2022. Now, a few months after the special services kick-started following the pandemic, a video of Indonesia’s celebrated services is making rounds on the internet. The video gives the world a glance at the smooth running of the celebrated services, which are being used by innumerable women.

The video came to light after the official Twitter page of Now This shared it on its timeline. While sharing a minute-long video, the positive news page wrote in the caption, “This ‘pink bus’ is designed to give women passengers in Indonesia a safe means of transportation, free from sexual harassment or other problems.”

This ‘pink bus’ is designed to give women passengers in Indonesia a safe means of transportation, free from sexual harassment or other problems pic.twitter.com/shwZHMY1Db

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 24, 2023

The now-viral video opens by showing a pink bus arriving at a bus stop, wherein some of the women passengers can be seen waiting to board the bus. It also mentions the supers that read, “This pink bus only serves women passengers to provide safe passage in Jakarta, Indonesia. PT Transport Jakarta, otherwise known as TransJakarta, resumed its pink bus services after a multi-year pause due to COVID-19. The bus provides a safer and more comfortable travel experience for women passengers and addresses the problem of sexual harassment on public transportation. Currently, 8 buses are operating, with more expected to be added.”

The video shows that the exterior of the bus is in pink and black colour and it has an automatic panel in the top front, which reveals the destination to all the passengers. However, its inside is in all-grey colour except for the seats that are pink in hue and the yellow handle. While it has a male driver, the bus has a female conductor.

Several users took to the comments section to acknowledge the video. Many claimed that while services started by the government are worth the praise, women shouldn’t have to go to such lengths to commute daily. One user commented, “The fact that these are the lengths women have to go through to do daily things to avoid any type of attack is not okay tbh. I’m happy though that they have this service open to women to reduce that.”

The fact that these are the lengths women have to go through to do daily things to avoid any type of attack is not okay tbh. I’m happy though that they have this service open to women to reduce that. https://t.co/9ZVKo0on1G

— aunt viv. (@fiviann) January 24, 2023

Another wrote, “This is nice but can't we just teach boys to grow up to respect women, or are we just abandoning that?”

This is nice but can't we just teach boys to grow up to respect women or are we just abandoning that? https://t.co/HjSrYHeR84

— j