Betor is one type of public transportation mean quite popular in Sumateran Provinces. The term is not commonly known for people in Java as the transportation mean because there is never a population of betor in Java. You may find a few in cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, but really very few. Betor never comes to involve life of people in this crowded island.
It’s different if you come to some cities in Sumatera Island, like Medan, the biggest city there. Betor plays an important part of daily living there. It transfer thousands of people from one place to another everytime.
Betor is an abbreviation of “Becak Bermotor” or Motorized Becak/Three Wheeler.
Do you know the look of becak? Please see here.
Or you can see this picture.
The normal three wheeler moves when a driver sitting behind the passenger compartment pedaling the vehicle, like a bicycle. But, betor is different.
The driver doesn’t have to pedal the vehicle. They just have to suppress the gas throttle on the handlebar, line riding a motorcycle.
Betor is not new, it was born quite long time ago since motorcycle entered Indonesia. It is usually built using the body of becak and old motorcycle.
Its form varies. In Medan, the body of motorcycle is attached on the side of the passenger cabin but in Lampung, the motorcycle body is behind.
The fare depends on the distance and passengers need to bargain with a driver to get the agreed fare which satisfy both parties.