Commuter, according to Oxford Dictionary, is "a person who travels some distance to work on a regular basis". The keywords are "travel some distance", "work", and "regular basis".
I've been commuting Bogor-Jakarta for about 5 months, starting from when I joined an internship program from a State-Owned Company (BUMN) in Gatot Subroto street, until now I worked in Kebayoran Lama district. At the first time I took train, but in a few past weeks I took bus instead of train.
I can't describe how it feels for being a commuter. Several things you might encounter from being a commuter of Jakarta is:
1. Traffic jams
As we know, Jakarta is one of the cities in the world which has heavy traffic problems, especially in workdays. In workdays, you might stuck in traffic jams for hours, even if you're using motorcycle.
2. Miss train/bus
Sometimes you're stuck on a traffic jam on your way to train/bus station, and when you arrive at the station you miss the train/bus you're supposed to ride.
3. Stand/hang inside the train/bus
When commuting, you can't expect that you will always get a seat on train/bus. Sometimes you have to stand & hang inside the train/bus, especially for men. For you who aren't used to stand/hang inside the train/bus, maybe it feels so hard to do this.
Beside things above, you can take other benefits from your journey:
1. You can strengthen your arms & legs while standing & hanging inside the train/bus. Don't just complaining. Let's think positively, you can make your arms & legs stronger. If you can't stand it, just ask another passengger to swap the seat with you.
2. You can "upgrade" your ability to sleep in any position. Yeah, it's true. When you're on a crowded train/bus and you feel so exhausted, try to close your eyes & take a nap, whatever your position (sitting/standing/hanging), of course after you ensure that you're in a secure position.
3. You can continue your Qur'an recital. Maybe you're too busy at your work hours & only have spare time when you're on the way to home/to work. Instead of just staring on the road or gossiping with your friends on the journey, you can continue your Qur'an recital, via the mushaf, online Qur'an website, or Qur'an mobile apps.
I write this post based on my own experience. Do you have the same experience? :)
*PS: this post is written on the way to work via blogger apps*
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[UPDATE 27/11/2012]
Another benefit of commuting:
4. You can discover some routes of public transportation you might need to ride by yourself. We can't rely on only one route of public transportation. Sometimes the public transportation we used to ride encountering a problem so that it can't be operated normally, for example the Bogor-Jakarta train which is temporarily can't depart from Bogor because of landslide in Cilebut. Another case is when heavy traffic jam occur, and your ride hasn't arrive for hours.
By discovering the alternative routes, you can save your time, your money, and maybe you can find useful things along the journey on alternative route. At the end, you can determine which one is the cheapest route and which one is the fastest route. Besides, you can give advice to others who want to take similar journey. Advice given as a result of self experience is more valuable, isn't it? :)
