Tale of ‘Mikro’, the Essential Transportation of Manado Residents

Mikro is the cheapest and easily accessible city transportation for all levels of society in Manado, North Sulawesi. Even though their numbers are decreasing, many people still rely on them for mobility.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

A Maxim online taxi passes near a line of microbuses or microbuses in front of the Manado Townsquare mall, Manado, North Sulawesi, on Saturday (13/5/2023).

Old vehicles painted sky blue march like ants on Jl. Sam Ratulangi in Manado, North Sulawesi. Their drivers stop at will in the left lane of the one-way road, not far from the Point Zero Monument at the center of the North Sulawesi capital.

Traffic jams are inevitable. The hot afternoon on Wednesday (10/5/2023) grew even more heated for drivers of cars and motorcycles. Their horns blared as if to tell the sky-blue cars to move aside, but were ignored.

These sky-blue cars are mikrolet (minibuses), simply called mikro in Manado. The mikro drivers were looking for passengers.

Triman (53), a driver plying the Point Zero-Malalayang Terminal route, is one of them. "Malalayang, girl? Malalayang, ma'am? Malalayang! Malalayang!” he shouted as he looked out the window opposite the driver's seat. However, no one responded.

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He found passengers only after driving another 100 meters and cut his route short, from what was supposed to be 7.8 kilometers between Point Zero and the Malalayang Terminal in the southern end of the city to around 2 km to Manado Town Square (Mantos) Mall on Jl. Boulevard Piere Tendean.

"Mantos, cewek [girl]?" he called out to a young woman. She nodded, and then went to the rear passenger compartment of the Mitsubishi Colt T120 van made in the 1990s that Triman was driving. "Cewek" is a common greeting for young women in Manado, like "mbak [miss]" is in Java.

On reaching Mantos, the woman got off and then paid Rp 6,000. The rates for mikro have risen since the price of Pertalite fuel was increased in September 2022. Before, the rates were just Rp 4,000 for both short and long trips .

I like to ride the mikro because it's simple, easy.

Even though urban transportation is being increasingly eroded by private vehicles and online transportation, many Manado residents still rely on mikro.

One of these is Elsye (62), a resident of Perkamil village. She takes a mikro twice a week to a supermarket in the Pasar 45 area. The Perkamil-Pasar 45 mikro route passes the mouth of her street.

"I like to ride the mikro because it's simple, easy. Without thinking much, I instantly arrive at my destination. The rate of Rp 6,000 is also still affordable," the retired civil servant said on meeting her after she had finished shopping on Wednesday afternoon.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

Triman (53), sopir mikrolet trayek Zero Point-Terminal Malalayang, mengemudi pada Rabu (10/5/2023) di Jalan Sam Ratulangi, Manado, Sulawesi Utara. Dalam sehari, ia bisa mengumpulkan pendapatan sebesar Rp 100.000-Rp 150.000.

Christine Medelu (21), a nursing student at the Indonesian Development University (UNPI) Manado, also relies on mikro to reduce her travel costs from her home in Paniki Dua village to the UNPI campus around 15 km away.

"From home, I take in-Drive [on-demand motorcycle taxi] to the mikro lane on Jl. A.A. Maramis for Rp 12,000. I then take the mikro to the campus, changing three times, for Rp 18,000. So, traveling from home to the campus and returning home costs Rp 60,000. If I were to take the in-Drive [service] directly from home to campus, it would cast more than Rp 100,000," she said.

For Triman, this proves that mikro will always be needed. "The mikro is for all people, especially the lower middle class, not the rich. Not like online transportation [services], the mikro is easy to access. So, it will still be around," he said.

In 2022, the Manado city administration said 25,000-28,000 poor people lived in the city of around 428,000 people. Mikro was often their preferred mode of transportation.

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Even so, data from the Manado Transportation Agency (Dishub) show a decline in the number of mikro. In 2019, there were 2,836 mikro units plying 17 routes, but as of 1 Dec. 2022, the figure had fallen to 1,833 units.

Triman, a father of one, has been driving mikro for 20 years ever since he moved from Surabaya in 2000. "In 2000, making [a daily income] of Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000 was easy. Now, it’s not easy to earn just Rp 100,000," he said.

In fact, mikro have rather large operating costs. Every day, Triman needs 15 liters of gasoline, which costs around Rp 150,000. In addition, he has to give a cut of Rp 100,000 to the mikro’s owner. Other costs include Rp 40,000 for meals and cigarettes.

The problem is, if we wait too long, the passengers will become annoyed.

The drivers are grateful if they make Rp 100,000-Rp 150,000 each day. "The rate should be Rp 7,000, but just let it be as it is, [I’m] sorry for the people," he said.

Daniel Herison Lembo (38), who goes by Heri and plies the Pasar 45-Paal Dua route, said that if he wanted to bring more money home to his wife and five children, he simply extends his working hours on the 2.2 km route beyond 6 p.m. Central Indonesia Time (WITA). If he doesn’t have enough passengers, he bajalur (parks), or ngetem, on the side of the road and calls out: "Ampa lima! Ampa lima!" for Pasar 45, or "Paal Dua! Paal Dua!"

"There is no need to wait longer. If I get two or three [passengers], torang [we] just go. The problem is, if we wait too long, the passengers will become annoyed," Heri said as he waited for passengers near the Paal Dua horse statue.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

Microbuses or Mikro on the Pasar 45-Tuminting route line up in the Pasar 45 area, Manado, North Sulawesi, on Tuesday (9/5/2023). A total of 1,833 micro units are still operating to serve the people of Manado.

Still hope

Heri did not deny that one day, mikro could become extinct and disappear from the streets of Manado like it had happened in other cities, such as Surabaya. However, he was optimistic that mikro would survive because there would still be Manado residents who took mikro. This was what made him switch from working as a truck driver for a construction material store to become a mikro driver in 2020. "If I transport materials, working six days, the wage is only Rp 114,000 per day. If I drive the mikro, I can make Rp 150,000 a day," he said.

Amidst the difficult situation, mikro drivers also felt they did not have support from the government. None of the 2023 Regional Budget (APBD) spending of Rp 1.74 trillion is allocated as a public service obligation (PSO) fund for public transportation.

Road Traffic and Transportation (LLAJ) head Donald Willar of the Manado Transportation Agency said it was difficult to disburse PSO to mikro services because all minibuses in Manado were private property, while government subsidies could only be given to legal entities.

This situation was also a cause of the dramatic decline in the number of mikro. According to Donald, many owners had difficulty repairing their mikro due to the high price of spare parts. In addition, many had difficulty competing with ojek (motorcycle taxis) and on-demand taxis. "It all depends on the mikro owners. If they do not improve their services, they will definitely be unable to compete," Donald said.

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Transportation expert Djoko Setijowarno from Soegijapranata Catholic University was of the view that the regional administrations, including the Manado administration, did not prioritize public transportation. This was partly because Law No. 23/2014 on regional administrations did not include public transportation as a basic need.

Local governments should provide incentives for mikro, he said. "It doesn't need to be big, Rp 5 billion at most is good. Give incentives so that gasoline needs are covered every day. What is important is that public transportation must be a legal entity. This could be through [forming] cooperatives,” said Djoko.

However, transportation head Marshel Mandey of the Manado Public Transportation Office said that cooperatives had been made but they were all inactive. "None is active. So we have difficulty providing subsidies or grants," he said.

The regional administration needs to make a serious effort at collaborating with entrepreneurs and mikro owners to improve management of a public transportation service that the citizens of Manado rely on.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.