Ministry of Transportation

COVID-19 cases have been increasing in Indonesia and affect people’s daily activities significantly. In order to prevent the virus from spreading, Indonesian Government has established some regulations such as large-scale social restriction (PSBB) and advising people to work, study, and do other activities at home if possible. Other than limiting the movement of people and reducing transport demand, the government advises transport operators and businesses to apply health protocol in every public transport instrument.

Based on this issue, the Ministry of Transportation of Indonesian Republic assigned the team from National Center for Sustainable Transportation Technology (NCSTT) along with Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) to study the COVID-related road transport policy. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness in the implementation of those regulations and to understand the travel behaviour of people during the pandemic. The outcome of this project is a recommendation that can become a reference to improve the aforementioned policy to manage people and goods movement in a relatively short time, considering the government needs an immediate solution for the current problem. The method of this research is primary data collection in the form of an interview, focus group discussion, Revealed and Stated Preference (RP and SP) which were taken from July to August 2020.

The appraisal is conducted in four aspects:

1. Evaluation of the use of road transport by the traveller during COVID-19

   The result of the analysis illustrates that factors affecting people who have a higher income (> IDR 5 Mio) to travel were occupation responsibility and the enforcement of health protocol during the trip. It appears that the capacity to remote-work or work from home (WFH) for this segment of people was available, and there was a tendency that they are financially secured as they are investing and have some savings. Relative to lower-income people (< IDR 5 Mio), people in this category also perceived travelling during the pandemic as risky.

2. Evaluation of health protocol implementation by public transport operators

   During PSBB, the application of health protocol in public transport was mostly for masks using only. In the New Normal period, there was an improvement of the obedience, meaning that the operators were more prepared to tackle the pandemic problem as experienced before in the PSBB period.

3. Evaluation of health protocol implementation by the traveller

   Both private vehicles and public transport users perceived health protocol as essential and the performance analysis regarding the implementation was considered as good. The exception is during PSBB, the aspects that are well-performed were only mask compliance, online ticketing and health protocol signage.

4. Evaluation of the criterion selectivity of travel restriction to the administrative area by private vehicles and public transport

   Despite there being a considerable proportion of respondents who perceived intercity movement does not necessarily affect COVID-19 spread in a district, they still demanded a suitable test mechanism to prevent it. Further, the information about the risk in a zone is needed.

According to the output, NCSTT formulated a recommendation to COVID-19-related travel regulation. In terms of travel restriction, in addition to transport policy, to improve the effectiveness of the restriction it is crucial to build a reassurance for the people regarding the economic circumstance as it is the main reason for them to travel. Intercity movement can be reduced by issuing campaign, economy support, reducing governmental trips, and reinforcement on the field control. In relation to health protocol, apart from the standardisation and proper surveillance by related officers, the government can offer support for transport operators to carry out the discipline. Raising awareness to the people concerning COVID-19 also needs to be improved, such as the provision of information in media and city signage. Since the accuracy rate of the rapid test is relatively low, other tests such as PCR should be intensified, moreover for the adaptation to a new normal. The participation of all parties, such as operators, government, and other stakeholders, is important to achieve an effective outcome.

As the successor of the first research regarding COVID-19, NCSTT undertook a study to review the on-going regulation in relation to passenger movement and COVID-19 spread in Indonesia. NCSTT modelled the correlation between people activity and interzone movement COVID-19 dissemination in West Java.

The regression model demonstrates there is a high correlation between the number of trips going from and to the epicentre and the rate of COVID-19 cases. It also applies within the centre of activity, where there is a significant relationship amongst crowded activity and the virus spread. Public transport users are the ones that had a greater risk of the infection. Time-lag of the virus dissemination was also modelled with instantaneous, with the result of 7-14 days.

NCSTT released recommendations related to the output. In terms of movement from and to the epicentre, there should be connectivity control and evaluation of every trajectory. Similarly, some control and restriction for the high-density activity such as retail, recreational places, and stations are essential, hence limiting the number of people and cutting down the operational hours can be methods to prevent the spread. Travel restriction and other control policy should refer to the time-lag tailored to each area. Furthermore, health protocols applied in public transport should be supported by the mechanism of demand management.

COVID-19 has been negatively impacting the road transport business, as the number of passengers drops while the infected cases increase. On the other hand, transport operators still need to improve the existing facilities to prevent the spread and rebuild users’ trust and manage their behaviour. With the implementation of COVID-19-related ministerial regulation (PM 18 Tahun 2020, PM 5 Tahun 2020, SE No 4 Tahun 2020), there was a considerable fall in the national economy. In August 2020, NCSTT conducted a research to investigate the economic impact of COVID-19 on road transport business, particularly in terms of limitation of passenger capacity, the current occupancy rate of public transport during the limitation, and operational cost of transport operators.

NCSTT identified two main uncertainties that affect road transport business, which is COVID-19 situation in national scale and users’ trust toward public transport. Occupancy rate was also projected to be less than 20% in the national red zone and around 20%-40% in other zones. Three scenarios were analysed: Gridlock, Busway and Highway, which resulted in Contraction, Consolidation and Recovered for the business sustainability. For each result, NCSTT delivers the recommendation of stimulus using the characteristics and direct and indirect costs with supply and demand analysis. Porter’s Diamond model is used to map the policy with primary and secondary data. The result indicates that the strategy to tackle the business resilience is providing subsidies or waivers of levies for transport operators, or applying the Buy the Service (BTS) mechanism. Other tools to support it are maintaining healthy business competition, restoring the balance of transport demand, and enforcing health protocol in every transport infrastructures.

Effectiveness of the result was assessed by resource-impact matrix. Aspects such as subsidies for health protocol implementation, permit cost, taxes, tariff, and BTS directives have fallen into the second quadrant, which implies high impacts but require high resources.

To tackle the economic problem for transport business during the pandemic, NCSTT released a regulation recommendation as follow:

1. Health protocol for COVID-19 standardisation and procedures of suspect finding for all transport infrastructures and fleet by the government to ensure safety for users.
2. Law enforcement for illegal operators to maintain a healthy market.
3. Moratorium of road transport business license.
4. Providing incentives for the operators to consolidate the business.
5. Providing subsidies for the operators regarding health protocol facilities and administrative levies.
6. Vehicle tax waivers and restructuring of loan payments.
7. Providing subsidies for public transport tariff and human resource cost.
8. Buy the Service (BTS) scheme in major cities to ensure the quality of transport service.

To understand the impact of COVID-19 toward road transport business, NCSTT investigated transport demand changes in several major cities in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and Makassar. As there was a significant decline in the number of activity at public places such as retail, recreational places, and workplace, NCSTT analysed the models of the impact toward transport operators.

The analysis uses macro and micro strategy to aid the business climate of road transport in the post-COVID-19 situation. Using literature review, policy benchmarking with reference countries, expert judgements, and focus group discussion with the experts, in terms of macro strategy analysis NCSTT generates the results in three main parts: tax relaxation, economy incentives regulation for transport services, and other regulations. On the other hand, the micro strategy analysis utilises the right sizing method to improve optimisation and enhance the quality control of the work.

As the number of transport services users fell up to 90%, even though the operators had anticipated the additional cost of COVID-19 implication by cutting down the number of fleet and human resources, the revenue still dropped at around 80%. The business revitalisation that NCSTT modelled applied the scenario of 70% implementation of health protocol in public transport and implemented the macro and micro strategies.

The result of the analysis is seven points of recommendation as follow:

1. Revitalisation of public transport facilities for passengers after COVID-19.
2. Fuel subsidy for public transport based on the length of trip in each trajectory.
3. Road surcharge for passengers in peak demand period.
4. Time allocation and shift control for public activity in busy areas such as business districts to prevent excessive crowds in public transport.
5. Exemption on BPJS charge (health and employment insurance) for transport operator human resources.
6. Providing funding compensation (BLT) for transport services employees such as drivers, mechanics, and staff as the form of economic safety assurance.
7. Expand the concept of Buy the Services in other areas to ensure the feeder services for transit.

Puncak Area is a connector between several cities which has a high volume of traffic, especially in the weekend or holiday season. The characteristics of the area; its relatively hilly and uneven geographical condition, plenty of recreational places in the surrounding cities makes the congestion heavier over the time. The Ministry of Transportation along with Jabodetabek Transportation Management Authority (BPTJ) plan to achieve a transportation reformation, which targets 60% of private vehicle users who use the Puncak Area shift their mode to mass public transport.

NCSTT and ITB have undertaken a study of the strategy to tackle the traffic problem in the Puncak Area with public transport system operation and spatial planning-based demand management. Operational traffic management will be examined, such as trip distribution, potential public transport mode, prospective users, identification of routes, etc.

Following the result, a review of related regulation regarding the regional transportation and tourism industry was conducted. In terms of transport network and traffic management, NCSTT analysed the root cause of the problem and identified the service performance of Puncak Area lanes. Further, NCSTT undertook several surveys, such as drone survey, stated & revealed preference survey, and traffic counting to collect existing data. The analysis concluded the most suitable services to accommodate tourists visiting recreational places in Puncak Area was dedicated shuttle bus with various route options; direct, drop-off, or interchange. Several types of stations (Park & Ride and interchange) were assigned throughout the trip generation area.

Business models regarding the service were calculated using the result from the analysis of travellers’ profile and behaviour, market segmentation, financial scheme, etc. The Buy the Service scheme of transport service was studied to investigate the feasibility with the involved stakeholders, along with the risk management and funding alternatives for the option. The results summarised a long term recommendation to address the Puncak Area traffic issue.

Electric vehicles have been the preferred mode in developed countries in the world. Other than its high efficiency, it also does not generate carbon emission. Hence it is more environmentally friendly compared to fossil-fueled vehicles. Operational costs of electric vehicles are expected to be three times lower than carbon fuel-based transportation. On the other hand, the progression of autonomous vehicles advancement has been a priority in many countries. It is predicted to be the future of transport technology which will alter conventional vehicles.

The development of the new National Capital (IKN) in Indonesia plans to apply both technologies for the road transport network. NCSTT undertakes a study to formulate regulation for the implementation of autonomous electric vehicles for public transport in IKN in terms of socio-economics, technology, safety, security, and guidance framework.

In Indonesia, railway infrastructure is operated by business entities owned by local or national governments. The cost related to the maintenance is borne by the government and calculated in IMO (Infrastructure Maintenance Operation) mechanism, which is regulated in ministry regulation PM No 156 Tahun 2015. The calculation is interpreted as 0.75 IMO = 1 TAC (Track Access Charge) and does not take into account the return of the investment. This study aims to develop a counterbalance and proportional formulation regarding TAC calculation according to the relevant cost item.

NCSTT will evaluate the existing mechanism of TAC assessment and identify the relevant matters. In general, this research will construct a concept of automatic detectors in railway infrastructure based on primary and secondary data surveys. Further, it will simulate the suitable technology and formulate the appropriate design criterion of the load measuring instrument, ensuring the result will be as ideal as possible.

As tourism is the leading sector of Bali growth, transportation has been one of the most important aspects to boost the local economy. Economic growth of Bali is among the highest in Indonesia, with 5.22% in 2018 and 5.8% in 2019. Improving Bali will be impacting the national growth in due course, hence upgrading its transport infrastructure will be beneficial not only in regional scale but also in broader scope in the long term. Currently, public transport in Bali from the south district has not evenly covered the whole area, particularly in the south district. The existing services need to be complemented to accommodate the trips, especially in peak hours since other than tourism purposes, the local movement is also overflowing the traffic.

To tackle the issue, the Bali Province Government with the Ministry of Transportation of Indonesian Republic is undertaking studies regarding public transport services based on innovative road transport such as hybrid bus or urban rail such as metro, light rapid transit (LRT), automated rapid transit (ART), and automated guided transit (AGT). There are several entities involved in the studies, including relevant state-owned enterprises. NCSTT and ITB were assigned to conduct the study for the south-west area, where it is dominated by green fields, residential and some tourism spots.

Since Bali has a strongly religious and cultured society, it is important to conduct a thorough survey regarding road network physical framework, local heritage and point of interest, socio-culture conditions, and people’s travel habits. Other than visual investigation, the stated preference survey was also distributed based on people’s residency; separated between local inhabitants and tourists.

Two corridors for the south-west route plan are I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport - Mengwi Bus Terminal and Benoa Port - I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport where the traces involve 3 cities: Denpasar, Kuta, and Tabanan. NCSTT examined the alternatives of transport mode such as hybrid/electric bus, LRT, and ART. The result shows that for the south-west area of Bali, the most beneficial option is mass rapid transit (LRT or ART) since in the long run, buses will be overcrowded. Furthermore, the narrow characteristics of the road makes it difficult to maintain buses in mixed traffic for the long term, when the demand grows. Culturally, in Bali there should not be objects placed around certain buildings to a certain extent, thus constructing elevated infrastructure will be problematic in most of the sections. For those sections, underground infrastructure is considered, with note that it requires a considerable cost hence the integration of tracks with other traces (south-north or south-east) that is currently planned by other entities can be the most plausible option to keep the financial feasibility and sustainability of the project.