Fixing Indonesias Public Transport Woes

By Rudy Setiawan
Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world without a decent or well-functioning
public transportation system. The public transportation issue itself is not only limited to
large cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya or Medan, but it also involves many intra-city
transportation hubs and island transportation systems. It is, without a doubt, one of the
largest and most complex issues that the government and private sector must tackle from
all fronts.
Looking back at the 1960s, our then-president, Sukarno, ordered the removal of the tramtrain system and replaced it with buses, disregarding the possibility of a rapid increase in
public transportation demand in the future. It then turned out that the supply of public
transport failed to fulfill the market demand, so people began to collectively opt for private
vehicles over public transportation. Now, for over the last decade, the average number of
public transportation users has decreased rapidly, partly due to the overall growth of the
Indonesian economy, which has increased the number of middle-income earners and the
markets vehicle affordability. Ten years ago, public transport users accounted for 45
percent of total transportation users, and it remained so until 2012. From that point,
motorcycles became more ubiquitous as a result of their almost 60 percent market share, as
fewer and fewer people took to public transportation.It is also worth noting that over the
same period, public transport only accounted for 1 percent of total vehicles on the road.
Unfortunately, this growth was and still is not concurrently carried out with enough
responsibility from the citizens. Vehicle ownership symbolizes prestige and relates to
socioeconomic status, while quantity is valued over quality: the more vehicles one owns the
better their perceived economic status. Gridlock and inconvenient public transport systems
are becoming a hindrance to productivity and a winning strategy to increase citizens stress
levels. The cities that were initially developed for human purposes, are now transforming
into a container of vehicles, growing at a 12 percent rate annually.
There are considerably several main issues with regard to the Indonesian public
transportation system, constituting infrastructure, government support and regulatory
framework, public behavior, as well as business ecosystems. Jakarta as the national center
of development and economic growth is, ironically, becoming the place in most need of a
public transport fix. The city contends, on a daily basis, with a constant overcapacity in
TransJakarta buses and trains, and old city buses (operating for 30 years in general), of
which some do not even have speedometers or proper brake systems. Given such
conditions, it is only natural that merely 15 to 20 percent of citizens are willing to use public
transportation.
Meanwhile, transportation issues in cities including Bandung, Bogor, Padang and Semarang
also spring from the imbalance between public transportation facilities and public demand.
The difference is that these cities face an oversupply of public transport to accommodate
the small number of passengers, which is in this case the cause of the congestion. In these

areas, public transportation tends to have low occupancy partly due to ticket prices, overly
frequent stops, and short routes. This brings us to another vexing issue the poor level of
driving by those operating transport services. Reckless driving, haphazard stops in improper
areas, and a general disregard for road rules are only a few of the driving concerns.
In 2013, the Bekasi administration found that some 2,000 drivers did not even have a
drivers license, and around 900 of them were underage. Similarly in Bogor, the city with the
nickname of Kota Sejuta Angkot (City of a Million Public Minivans), only 30 percent of
public transport drivers possess a driving license. The regulatory framework is yet another
example of poor transport management. As opposed to the constantly declared plan to fix
Indonesias transportation system, the applied policy is showing the contrary.
The approval of the Low-Cost Green Car incentive, allowing manufacturers to sell cars at a
lower tax rate, is one such example. And the impending effects will go beyond the
congestion problem. Despite the aggressive attempts to mitigate energy and fuel
consumption in order to reduce government spending on fuel subsidies, the proliferation of
private vehicles such as motorcycles and cars will surely jack up fuel consumption and take a
significantly chunk out of the state budget.
Seen from an industrial point of view, Indonesias case of public transport is a double-edged
sword there are some parties who benefit from the grief of others. The automotive
industry, for example, is a clear winner as a poor public transport system spurs private
vehicle sales. The Indonesian government, however, is not simply taking the easy way out to
tackle this issue in fact, it has a lot of factors to consider. Accounting for around 7 percent
of the countrys gross domestic product, the automotive and supporting industries are one
of the most important sectors in Indonesias story of economic growth. Castrating the
automotive industry also means putting millions of jobs in jeopardy.
On the other hand, some other parties are aggrieved by the economys reliance on this
industry, namely the public and business owners. The public at large is vexed, and the high
tax on public transport vehicles discourages business owners from investing more money
into fixing and replacing older vehicles. According to the Organization of Land
Transportation Owners (Organda), the government has shown a lack of support to fix this
issue, as the public transportation vehicle tax is pegged at 16 to 20 percent, while private
vehicle tax is pegged lower at only 6 to 10 percent.
In all fairness, there is no quick fix to Indonesias transportation issues. The problem itself
involves many stakeholders, requiring the government to cultivate a genuine willingness as
the regulator to revitalize the industrial environment, and above all to encourage a genuine
willingness to solving the various problems. The government needs to create a more
competitive marketplace for entrepreneurs while averting monopolies. Inviting foreign
investors and/or consultants is also worth considering to educate local entrepreneurs and
authorities on how best to improve the sector. Moreover, educating the public about the
benefits of using public transportation is pivotal initiatives such as obligating citizens to
make use of public transport on a certain day of each month could be some of the
cornerstones toward improving the overall sentiment. It all wont be easy, but the diamonds
wont shine without force and pressure.