Hours to Go, Just to Get to Work: Indonesians Cope With Infuriating Traffic and Inefficient Transit

(NYT) JAKARTA, Indonesia — For someone with dropping blood-sugar levels and in the early stages of dehydration, Eva Roma was rather stoic as she began her one-and-a-half-hour commute home from her office in central Jakarta.

Her journey started with an hourlong ride on a standing-room-only public bus, followed by 25 minutes in a minivan, and finally a five-minute walk to her house in the far southern confines of this Indonesian capital.

Once there, Ms. Roma, 33, a Muslim who works as a secretary at a financial services company, planned to buka puasa — break her fast in observance of the holy month of Ramadan. Getting to work the next morning would be even worse, since that trip usually takes two hours.

The daily commute, especially while refraining from eating or drinking all day, takes a toll, Ms. Roma said. But she has long since become inured to the physical realities of commuting in Jakarta, where horrific traffic and an inefficient public transportation system condemn many people to sitting in cars, buses and minivans or on motorcycles for four hours a day or longer, year-round. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/world/asia/hours-to-go-just-to-get-to-work.html?_r=0