You are probably familiar with bajaj as the name of the iconic three-wheeled orange smoke-belching vehicles (although the new blue ones that run on LPG are slowly replacing them) that many Jakartans rely on to cover short distances cheaply. But bajaj is actually the brand name of Indian company Bajaj Auto that popularized the autorickshaw (as bajaj are technically classified) in the1940s and the company continues to produce them as well as other vehicles.
The next generation of bajaj from Bajaj is the 4-wheeled Qute, which is something between a car and an autorickshaw. After being introduced to the local consumer market at the start of the year (at a mere Rp 65 million, they’re the cheapest ‘cars’ for sale in Indonesia), Qutes are hitting the streets of Jakarta in force, with the Ministry of Transports and the Jakarta Transportation Agency greenlighting a test to see if the adorably wee-mobiles might work as replacements for the 3-wheeled bemo (a slightly larger version of the bajaj that is usually used to ply specific routes all day long).
The test of the Qutes started on July 19 and there are 17 of them operating at the moment. Most of them can be found around Kota Station, a transportation hub that always has plenty of bemos around to take people to nearby locations on their routes.
On Sunday, Viva interviewed Salam, one of the new Qute drivers, who said he had earned good money driving the new vehicle over the last few days. He also compared it favorably to driving a bemo, saying, “It feels good, it has a new name, and it’s not noisy and smoky like the old bemos.”
The Qutes can carry up to four people and are assigned to specific routes like bemo. The rate from the station to end of the route is currently Rp 5,000.
Officials from the Jakarta Transportation Agency said the Qute test will go on for three months during which time the government will assess their efficiency as public transport vehicles. They said the goal was for Qutes to eventually replace all bemos,but did not give any date as to when a large scale replacement might take place.
The engine of the Qute can run on either LPG or CNG and is capable of going up to 70 km/h. To keep the price low, the Qute lacks air conditioning, power steering, power windows or an audio system. However, the government is considering regulations to force Qutes as well as other public transport vehicles to install AC in a bid to increase passenger comfort and ultimately numbers.
Would you be more likely to take a Qute than a bajaj or bemo? Let us know in the comments!
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