Blue Bird Taxi
I still have mostly good experiences with Blue Bird taxis, though their drivers do not always seem to be the most knowledgeable. It happened several times that they even did not know how to get to Monas (from Kuningan), or did not know the fastest or shortest route to certain locations. In addition, they have raised their tariffs. On a 30-60 minutes trip, the difference with other taxi companies is around 15.000-20.000 rupiah. Not significant, but it makes quite a difference if you take taxi regularly.In regards to ordering Bluebird Taxi by phone or through their app: it works just fine outside rush hours and when it's not raining or extremely hectic on the road. However, to my personal experience, 50% of times they do not show up, it takes very long before they show up, or their phone number/app is overloaded and you can't reach them at all.
Since Jakarta is even more hectic than a few years ago and it is more often hard to get a Bluebird, I would like to share some actually quite good alternatives. I want to be careful with my advice, because there are stories about people getting robbed or harassed by drivers from other companies, but I want to share my personal experience.
I have spent many, many (!) hours in taxi in Jakarta over the past years, so it might be helpful for 'newbies'.
Express Group Taxi
I take Express as often as Blue Bird. They are slightly cheaper than Blue Bird and quality is comparable. Maybe one out of 20 drivers is a bit of an idiot or at least drives like an idiot, but same for all the other taxi companies.Taxiku
Their fleet is not very large, so I hardly ever use them, but I usually order a Taxiku for trips to the airport, as they have the unique feature that you don't have to pay toll yourself. Whenever I ordered Taxiku, they were always on time (even too early). I have to admit that I usually go to airport at dawn, so I am not sure if they are also on-time during busier hours.TransCab
Quite nice to my experience. Their unique feature is that they have a small TV screen in their taxis, which can make your trip more fun. However, quite often the TV does not work (about 50% of times). Service quality is okay: they seem to know the routes, they are pretty friendly and have quite good driving skills, on average. Slightly cheaper than Blue Bird and Express.Prima Jasa
Sometimes good, sometimes bad. I don't have any really bad experience except 2 times a cockroach in the vehicle (big drama for me, but actually not a big deal haha). Bit cheaper than Bluebird/Express. Quality comparable to Taxiku and TransCab.Tip: make sure the driver turns on the argo meter! If not, take another taxi, because they ask crazy tariffs without argo and negotiation is quite impossible (especially if you don't speak bahasa well).
Korporasi Taksi
Their taxis often look very lousy, are often smelly, and their drivers are usually old men, but they are surprisingly friendly and really seem to know the city and alternative routes. I have never had any bad experience with Korporasi Taksi, though I also never felt extremely comfortable and I feel like being a bit more alert when using Korporasi Taksi. They are cheaper than Express (and definitely cheaper than Bluebird).Tip: make sure the driver turns on the argo meter! If not, take another taxi, because they ask crazy tariffs without argo and negotiation is quite impossible (especially if you don't speak bahasa well).
Dian Taksi
Same as Korporasi Taxi: often lousy/smelly taxis and not the most hygienic drivers in the world, but I never experienced any problem. I used Dian Taxi only several times (maximum 10 times) and every time I got to my destination without trouble and even without giving instructions. And they are cheap too.Tip: make sure the driver turns on the argo meter! If not, take another taxi, because they ask crazy tariffs without argo and negotiation is quite impossible (especially if you don't speak bahasa well).
Weird taxi named 'Golden'
(not sure if it's a company or just a "one-man show")I would not recommend this taxi to anyone, however, I had a very quick and cheap trip back home and nothing bad happened at all (the driver was quite a friendly guy). Very dodgy though.
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