paratransit transport in indonesia: characteristics and

Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.11, 2015

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Paratransit Transport in Indonesia: Characteristics and User Perceptions

Tri Basuki JOEWONO a, Djoen San SANTOSO b, Yusak O. SUSILO c

a Graduate Program, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, Indonesia 40117; E-mail:

[email protected] b School of Engineering and Technology, Asian Institute of Technology,

Pathumthani 12120, Thailand; E-mail: [email protected] c Department of Transport Science, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH

Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Paratransit, well known as Angkutan Kota (Angkot) in Indonesia, has been a major

public transport mode in most developing countries. This mode offers public a frequent and

flexible service, regulated via a micro cooperation, and operated freely by individuals. The

study aims to elaborate the characteristics and user perceptions on the service attributes of

Angkot. Data was collected from three Indonesian major metropolitan areas: Bandung, Jakarta,

and Yogyakarta. Results show that Angkot has a specific market segment. Users experienced

that the services received less than their expectation. Security in using the mode has been the

priority concern for passengers in all three cities. Angkot shelters need to be improved,

organized, and maintained properly to provide acceptable service to passengers. Size and

economic development of a city may influence the level of service delivered by operators

and/or perceived by respondents.

Keywords: Paratransit; Angkot; Public transportation; Urban transportation; Service quality.

1. INTRODUCTION

The term of paratransit is a mix of two words, the Greek prefix 'para' (in the sense of beside,

or irregular) attached to the American term 'transit' (public transport, usually buses) (Silcock,

1981). Nowadays, the word of paratransit can be interpreted and applied to any form of public

transport which lies in the spectrum between conventional bus services and automobile

(Vuchic, 2007), where the difference manifests in terms of cost and quality of service

(Rimmer, 1980 in Loo, 2007). Since paratransit is not quite a full public transit, thus it has

some of the convenience features of private automobile operations (Grava, 2003). Flexibility

in routes, frequency, and fares are the important features of paratransit that differentiate it

from bus or rail services. In this article, the definition of paratransit will excludes shared taxi

types of operation and conventional taxis serving only single passengers or affinity groups.

Paratransit are typically available to everyone. Meanwhile, the term of paratransit in the US is

quite different, where it refers to demand responsive transport for specialized group of users

(see Grava, 2003 for more detail discussion).

Joewono and Kubota (2007a) used the term paratransit to refer to land based modes

owned and operated by private companies and individuals. It is known in Indonesia as

angkutan kota (Angkot) which is similar to jeepney in the Philippines, tuk-tuk and songtaew in

Thailand, dolmush in Istanbul, mammy wagons (converted trucks) and matatu (converted

vans) in some African countries. In many cities in Indonesia, Angkot uses local names and

refers to various types of cars, vans, and minibuses with a capacity of 12–16 seats. All of

these were referred as jitneys by Cervero (1998). In this article, the term of paratransit will be


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used interchangeably with angkutan kota (Angkot), when it refers to the service in Indonesia.

There is a lifelong controversy about the role of Angkot in the transportation system. In

one side, Angkot has a main benefit, such as that Angkot provides affordable door-to-door

mobility services, especially for the poor or transportation disadvantaged people. Angkot

becomes an important feeder to other public transportation: public buses or rail. It also

expands the network of transportation, which is good for business and economic growth. The

system of Angkot is also able to run a lot of money from retribution or fee collected from each

unit operated paratransit. The operation of Angkot has also generated job opportunities for

people. In developed countries, such as Japan, where paratransit is not available,

transportation disadvantaged people can only rely on taxi as an alternative for travelling

besides non-motorized modes and public buses. Therefore, the option is very limited. This

shows the role of Angkot in helping mitigate or avoid social exclusion for transportation

disadvantaged people.

On the other hand, Angkot has been seen as a problem rather than a solution, since it

results traffic jam in many places as they frequently stop with very short distance in between.

In major metropolitan city in Indonesia, e.g. Jakarta and Bandung, this type of public

transport has been targeted to be replaced with more formal public transport such as bus or

bus rapid transit system, rather than to try to improve and better manage it (Joewono and

Kubota, 2007a). From the perspective of transit system, Vuchic (2005) stated that paratransit

does not represent a system that can be coordinated and upgraded by provision of transit lanes,

preferential signals, and higher-quality vehicles. Thus, its existence seems to be unsustainable

as a result of weak management, low government support, and competition with motorcycle.

Its sustainability may be questioned, i.e. in its ability to maintain its service in the future (to

win the competition with motorization, especially motorcycle), its feasibility in upgrading

financial and economic aspects, and its ability in adapting environmental (global warming)

and social change (globalization). Presumably, this is due to the authority’s lack of

understanding in the Angkot’s characteristics, system, and users’ needs, since at present the

paratransit are operated with very low intervention or help from the government. The

individual operation of Angkot rather than a formal business unit, which resulted in

competition among drivers or operators, implies the reason for informal style of service,

unregulated business, lack of coordination in service, or low service quality.

Studies about paratransit have been conducted in several countries. Silcock (1981)

studied paratransit in several developing countries in the era of 80s, while Lee (1989) and Loo

(2007) elaborated paratransit in Hong Kong. Regidor et al. (2009) discussed the

re-engineering of paratransit in the Philippines, while Thangphaisankun et al. (2010) studied

paratransit as the feeder system in Bangkok. Mateo-Babiano et al. (2011) elaborated the role

of paratransit as a potential component of the transport system in the drive towards climate

change adaptation. As a matter of fact, a study of Angkot in Indonesia is very limited with an

exception by Joewono and Kubota (2005) who described its operational characteristics.

Joewono and Kubota (2007abcd) also investigated in comprehensive way and using several

methods to elaborate the attributes to explained service quality and its causal relationship with

loyalty and other factors, such as negative experience. Tarigan et al. (2010) investigated the

causal relationship between negative experience and willingness to use paratransit. Li et al.

(2011) studied paratransit drivers’ stated job choice behaviour under various policy

interventions.

Even there are several studies regarding paratransit, discussions regarding its business

operation and its role in the transportation system in Indonesian cities are still rare.

Discussions are also needed to clarify the level of importance of paratransit services according

to the users, including clarifying the extent it is essential to different segments of society in


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their daily life. Thus, the motivation of this research is to study the business operation and

characteristics of Angkot in the city of Bandung. Bandung is selected as a study location, as

more information regarding paratransit is available. Its number and business operation is also

able to represent Angkot in other cities in Indonesia. The objective of this study is to elaborate

the business operation of paratransit and to clarify the level of importance (as a way to

express the contribution) of the service of paratransit to the city’s transportation system as

well as to the specific segment of society. To present the level of importance of the service, an

exploration regarding the advantages and disadvantages of this mode based on evidence from

a primary data collection of the users and its users’ characteristics in three Indonesian major

metropolitan areas: Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta are employed.

A description of Angkot in Indonesia is provided in the next section. Then a discussions

regarding the characteristics, the system, and the users of Angkot will follow. Discussion

regarding the managerial transferability of Angkot and conclusion of study will close this

article.

2. ANGKOT AS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Paratransit represents deliberate efforts to fill gaps in the transportation spectrum, and today

they are official modes under various governments and private programs (Grava, 2003). In

Indonesia, the advent of Angkot can be traced back to the early of this century. In the

beginning, it is non-motorized mode of transport, which provides service to the community.

As motorization was introduced, then this non-motorized gradually moved to motorized

vehicle. In the era of 60s, the automotive from Japan was introduced. It started the era of

motorization, which accelerated the existence of the service initiated by community.

Government provided service by providing more formal mode of transport (bus or rail). Small

car and non-motorized were left to the community. Thus, the existence of Angkot can be

judged as purely initiative of community, which in the last three decade the role of

cooperation becomes stronger. In fact, most developing countries have a variety of public

transport systems, where generally, that these systems have just grown, rather than resulting

from sophisticated transport plans (Silcock, 1981). Even it does not guarantee desirability in a

social context or ensure adequate standards of safety, the transport systems seem to perform

well with respect to local conditions and needs (Silcock, 1981).

Angkot is self-sustaining system. There are no government subsidies in any kind, except

that the government publishes the regulation and determine the fare. The government, i.e.

local government which is managed by Bureau of Road Traffic (DLLAJ), has several tasks,

such as to determine route and number of unit, to publish guidance to calculate fare and to

determine the fare, to collect retribution for using the terminal, or to collect retribution for

licensing. There is no systematic system to help the operation of Angkot, which places the

government as a regulator only without real support to improve the sustainability of

paratransit. Operators should manage and struggle to survive with their own capability.

Paratransit has flourished for a number of reasons (Iles, 2005), in term of vehicle,

operation and maintenance practice, cost, and driving skill. Paratransit is an answer to the

demand of mobility from the society. It emerges mostly in developing countries because of

incompetency and incapability of governments to provide necessary transportation services to

their people. Improper land use and transportation planning has made the situation worst.

The vehicles used as an Angkot, usually Japanese minibuses with typical capacity of

12-16 seats, are relatively easy to own. There are many dealers or retailers selling the product

around the city. In recent years, it is getting easier to find loan to buy a car from financial


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institution with quite simple administration requirement and a long return period. A

permission or license from the cooperation is needed for the process.

Angkot operates individually and provides public passenger transportation with no

exclusive right-of-way. It has to mix with other road users, and with no fixed schedule

(Joewono and Kubota, 2007a). It operates without any coordination since its departure, in the

network, up to return to final destination. Usually they start their operation on 05.00 up to

18.00, while some of them have longer service period, i.e. up to 22.00.

There are specific terminals for Angkot at both ends of the designated route, which the

drivers need to follow from one end to another. However, there is always a bad apple in every

barrel so in some cases, drivers do not operate the vehicle until the end of the route. Angkot

does not have specific shelter for the users to wait then passengers can get on and get off in

anywhere along the route. Some group of drivers divide the route into several sub-routes that

makes the user have to transfer to another car and pay double. A practice in dividing official

route into sub-route or returning back without reaching final terminal is driver’s initiative as a

response to a fact of low passenger demand around the final terminal. Thus, driver will not

serve the area near the final terminal, especially in off-peak time (Menkimpraswil, 2002). This

practice increases the activity of informal shelter (i.e. places where Angkot waits passenger or

intersection between local and major road) and decrease the activity of formal final terminal.

Angkot is an efficient road travel mode, contributing only 18% of traffic flow but

transport more than 50% of passenger trips (Menkimpraswil, 2002). Although Angkot uses

roads efficiently, it creates congestion, as its units stop for access and egress anywhere, wait

for passengers, and make circular movements in dense areas. As Angkot stops practically

almost in every point and, additionally, there are seven routes of bus (DAMRI), unlicensed

Angkot, and deviation route (change the route that decided directly by the driver with and

without notification to passengers), the situation creates high density of public transport

service in this city. This deviation route is a driver’s decision to escape from traffic congestion,

or driver’s initiative to get wider catchment area and to collect more passenger. This high

density is also influenced by a current trend of traffic management in Bandung, i.e. one

direction in each road. It makes Angkot travels longer distance as they should travel in

one-directional traffic circulation. Average paratransit route length is 12.3 km with travel time

for round trip is 106 minutes. But, passenger usually travelled less than a half of the total

route length, i.e. 3.3 km with a variation between 1.3 up to 6 km. In the longest route (22 km),

passenger only travelled on average 2.5 km (Menkimpraswil, 2002).

3. METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

In this part, the characteristics and perceptions of Angkot’s users in three cities (Jakarta,

Bandung, and Yogyakarta) are reported. Data was collected by distributing questionnaire.

These three cities represent metropolitan city, medium to large city, and small to medium city.

According to the National Census (BPS, 2010), number of population in 2010 in Jakarta,

Bandung, and Yogyakarta were 9.6 million, 2.4 million, and 0.4 million, respectively.

Population density of Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta were around 78900, 13700 and 13300

inhabitants per square km, respectively.

Places of distribution were randomly selected to distribute the questionnaire and to

cover all possible users of public transportation modes under study, e.g. common meeting

places, terminals, stations, or bus stops. The respondents were limited to public transport users,

while public transport in this research refers to land-based public transport. The questionnaire

form and detailed questions can be found in Santosa et al. (2008).


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After examining the completed questionnaires, the total numbers of valid questionnaires

that can be used for analysis are 494, 499, and 498 for Bandung, Jakarta and Yogyakarta,

respectively. From those numbers, the respondents who use Angkot as their main public

transport are 450, 217, and 182 for Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. This statistic shows

that Angkot is dominant public transport in Bandung. From 494 respondents, 91.1% of them

are Angkot’s user, while taxi’s user and motorcycle taxi (ojek) are 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively.

Bus and other type of mode have very small share. In Yogyakarta, 182 out of 498 are Angkot’s

users. Bus is the dominant public transport with a share of 54.4%, while other modes of

transport have small share (less than 3%). In case of Jakarta, this city has more diverse mode

of transport. Angkot and bus are the dominant public transport with a share of 43.7% and

44.1%, respectively. Commuter rail and motorcycle taxi in Jakarta have very small share, i.e.

4.2% and 3.2%, respectively.

The questionnaire consists of fifty questions, which are contained in five parts, i.e.

respondent characteristics, usage of public transport, negative experiences while using public

transport, evaluation of service quality, and future situation of the mode. In the service quality

evaluation section, respondents were asked to rate aspects related to service quality based on

level of importance and level of satisfaction. For the level of importance, respondents could

choose highly important (1), important (2), not important (3), and absolutely not important (4).

The same weights of 1, 2, 3 and 4 were also assigned to satisfaction levels of very satisfied,

satisfied, not satisfied, and totally not satisfied, respectively. In the questions regarding

negative experiences, respondents were provided a rating from 1 to 4 to represent never,

sometime, frequent, and very often. Respondents were also asked to choose their preferences

regarding several situations of the mode: 1 represents preference to continue using the mode

and 2 represents preference to move to other mode.

4. DATA AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Sample Description

Discussion in the following section of this article will focus on the characteristics of Angkot’s

users and the evaluation of service quality.Users of Angkot in these three cities have similar

age, i.e. 18-29 years old (47-63%) and 17 years old or younger (14-34%). Female has bigger

proportion than male with a range of 54 to 66% in these three cities. Users are also single with

proportion around 80%. Family structure of the users is varied, where around 20 up to 40% of

them come from a family with a structure of couple and child. Around 50% of the respondents

are child in their family. The occupation of the users in Bandung and Yogyakarta are

dominated with student (around 70%), while in Jakarta the occupations are student (50%) and

working in private company (35%). Around 50% of the respondents have senior high school

as their highest education. It is interesting to note that 50% of respondent in Bandung and

around 66% of respondent in Jakarta and Yogyakarta did not own any driving license. Only

17% of respondent in Bandung have more than one type of driving license, while on the

contrary, only 6% and 3% of Angkot’s users have more than one of driving license. Detail

information regarding users’ demographic characteristics is presented in Table 1.

In terms of economic characteristics (Table 2), users in Yogyakarta have smaller

monthly income or stipend, where 64% of the users in Yogyakarta have less than a half

million rupiah. As information, the minimum average wage in Indonesian cities is one million

rupiah. In Bandung and Jakarta, around 60% of respondent have monthly income or stipend

less than one million rupiah. On the other side, only 7.7% of users in Yogyakarta have


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monthly salary or stipend in a range of 2.5-5 million rupiah, while the same range is

possessed by 7 % (Bandung) and 11% (Jakarta). The allocation for monthly transport cost is

dominated by maximum 30%. Around 20% of them spend more than 30% of their monthly

income for transport. Users in Yogyakarta allocate less when compared to the other two cities.

Allocation as much as 30% is spent by around 30% of respondent in each city.

In general, users reside in home, which is owned by their parents (around 50%). It is

followed with 30% of them stay in rent house or dorm. It is in line with car ownership. 43%

of users in Bandung and 61% of users in Jakarta did not own any car in their household, while

it is found in 80% of users in Yogyakarta. The proportions of users who have one unit are

34%, 27%, and 17%, for Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta, respectively. Again, Yogyakarta

has smallest proportion. Different situation exists in the ownership of motorcycle. Similar

proportion (40%) of the users has one motorcycle in their household. Users in Yogyakarta

tend to have more motorcycle or non-motorized vehicle compared to the other two cities.

Around 43% of users in Bandung and Jakarta did not own any NMT, while 29% of them are

found in Yogyakarta. Detail description for each economic aspect is provided in Table 2.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of demographic characteristics of paratransit’s users

Characteristics Proportion (%)*

Bandung Jakarta Yogyakarta

Age

17 years old or younger 21.3 14.3 33.5

18 - 29 years old 59.3 63.1 47.3

30 - 39 years old 7.8 11.1 9.9

40 - 49 years old 5.3 8.3 4.9

50 - 65 years old 5.8 3.2 3.3

65 years old or older 0.4 0.0 1.1

Gender Female 53.6 59.9 65.9

Male 46.2 40.1 34.1

Marital Status Single 79.8 77.4 80.2

Married 19.8 22.6 19.8

Family Structure

Alone 18.0 17.1 18.7

Couple without child 2.4 5.1 1.6

Couple with child 41.1 20.3 36.8

Couple with parents without child 2.4 2.3 1.1

Couple with parents with child 10.2 9.2 11.5

Living with friend or relative 13.1 13.8 18.1

Other 12.7 32.3 12.1

Role in family

Husband 8.4 9.2 8.8

Wife 11.8 11.5 11.5

Child 57.6 58.5 51.1

Relative 7.3 11.1 9.9

Other 14.9 9.7 18.1

Occupation

Student 67.1 50.2 70.9

Civil servant / military 3.3 1.4 3.8

Private company 16.4 34.6 9.9

Entrepreneur 5.3 9.2 11.0

Housewife 6.9 3.2 3.3

Retired/other 0.9 1.4 1.1

Highest Education

Elementary or less 2.7 4.1 8.8

Junior high school 15.8 11.5 25.3

Senior high school 58.2 48.4 50.5

Diploma 9.6 9.7 4.9

Undergraduate 13.6 24.9 10.4

Graduate 0.2 1.4 0.0

Driving License Did not own any 50.4 65.4 67.6


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ownership License for small car 14.0 11.5 3.3

License for bus/truck 0.4 0.0 2.7

License for motorcycle 17.8 16.6 23.1

More than one type 17.3 6.5 3.3

*the total proportion may not be equal to 100% as a result of the existence of missing value.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of economic characteristics of paratransit’s users

Characteristics Proportion (%)

Bandung Jakarta Yogyakarta

Monthly income

million IDR (1 USD equals to 9,666

IDR at the time of study)

Less than 0,5* 27.3 34.1 64.3

0.5 - 1 38.9 29.0 24.2

1 - 2.5 26.0 24.4 7.7

2.5 - 5 6.9 10.6 2.2

5 - 7.5 0.2 0.9 0.5

7.5 – 10 0.4 0.9 0.5

10 - 12.5 0.0 0.0 0.5

12.5 - 15 0.2 0.0 0.0

Allocation for

monthly transport cost

less than 10% 27.8 21.7 34.1

11% - 20% 33.6 31.3 30.2

21 % - 30% 23.6 22.1 11.5

31% - 40% 9.8 15.2 13.7

more than 40% 5.3 9.7 9.9

House ownership

Owned by him/herself 15.1 13.8 12.1

Rent 28.0 27.6 30.8

Owned by parent 52.9 53.0 46.2

Owned by relative 3.1 5.5 9.3

Owned by friend .2 0.0 0.0

Other .7 0.0 1.6

Car ownership

Did not own any car 43.1 60.8 80.2

One car 33.8 27.2 16.5

Two cars 15.8 10.1 3.3

Three cars or more 7.1 1.8 .0

Motorcycle

ownership

Did not own any motorcycle 30.0 30.4 21.4

One motorcycle 43.8 41.9 42.9

Two motorcycles 17.8 20.3 30.8

Three motorcycles or more 8.4 7.4 4.9

NMT ownership

Did not own any 42.7 44.2 28.6

One unit 36.9 38.7 42.9

Two units 17.1 11.1 19.2

Three units or more 3.3 6.0 9.3

*the total proportion may be not equal to 100% as a result of the existence of missing value.

4.2 Travel Characteristic

Angkot is a favourable mode for users (around 60% of respondent) with studying as their

main trip purpose for respondent in Bandung and Yogyakarta as shown in Figure 1. Working

and studying is the reason for selecting Angkot for respondent in Jakarta each with similar

percentage (around 40%). Other types of purpose have small percentage (less than 10%) in

these three cities. In Figure 2, it can be observed that frequency of using Angkot per day in

weekday is dominated by two times per day (around 50%), while frequency per week in

weekday is three times or more (around 70%). This finding appears in all three cities, where it

shows that they use Angkot for daily use. On weekend, the frequency distribution seems to

vary from not using at all up to three times or more per day, with not using the mode as the


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dominant share for all three cities. This indicates that paratransit is mainly used for weekday

activities.

Figure 1. Trip purpose using paratransit in three cities

The unavailability of automobile in household is the main reason for selecting Angkot,

where it is the case for these three cities with similar percentage. The reason of cost, where

Angkot is perceived as cheaper than other mode, is the second reasons to select in Jakarta.

Practically in using the service is the second reason for users in Bandung and Yogyakarta. The

speed of Angkot is the last reasons to select in each city (less than 3%). On the other hand, the

reason of weather is the main reason for rejecting Angkot in Bandung and Yogyakarta.

Respondents in Jakarta report that the main reason for not selecting Angkot is the

un-convenience of the service. Traffic condition is the reason for not selecting it by 21%, 24%,

and 12% of respondent in Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta, respectively.

4.3 Perception on current condition and services

In this study, respondents were asked to rate fifteen aspects of Angkot’s service quality. The

ratings were based on two different levels, i.e. level of importance and level of satisfaction.

Table 3 presents descriptive statistics of rating based on level of importance from three cities.

In the city of Yogyakarta, respondent mostly perceived the aspects are important to very

important. Similar findings can be found in the City of Jakarta or Bandung.

Security in car is perceived to the most important aspect of Angkot for all three cities.

The mean values of this aspect can be easily noticed, as the difference is quite large even to

the second rank. News about crime inside Angkot can be read on daily basis. However, less

has been done to improve this security. Ad hoc actions from government can be read when

serious crime was on the news but no continuous supervision and strict regulation to prevent

crimes from happening. Government should have more attention on this important issue, not

only in the car but also security in shelters. This shelter’s security was ranked second in

Bandung and Jakarta. However, Yogyakarta’s respondents were more concerned about

driver’s skill than shelter’s security, may be due to different size and economic development.


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(a) Number of usage per day

in weekday

(b) Number of usage per

week in weekday

(c) Number of usage per day

in weekend

Figure 2. Number of paratransit’s usage in three cities


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Table 3. Descriptive statistics of service quality aspect based on level of importance

Aspects Yogyakarta (n=182) Jakarta (n=217) Bandung (n=450)

Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev.

Cleanliness in car 1.42 0.495 1.51 0.537 1.50 0.531

Cleanliness in shelter/stop 1.63 0.596 1.56 0.533 1.52 0.526

Condition of car 1.54 0.661 1.55 0.568 1.52 0.571

Condition of shelter/stop 1.75 0.632 1.63 0.555 1.66 0.573

Comfort in car 1.40 0.523 1.37 0.539 1.29 0.475

Comfort in shelter/stop 1.57 0.589 1.49 0.554 1.49 0.555

Route coverage 1.59 0.566 1.61 0.525 1.61 0.561

Ease of payment 1.68 0.533 1.70 0.552 1.64 0.580

Security in car 1.20 0.399 1.14 0.351 1.15 0.371

Security in shelter/stop 1.45 0.531 1.30 0.518 1.28 0.475

Ease of access 1.64 0.526 1.61 0.552 1.55 0.549

Driver's skill 1.37 0.559 1.38 0.550 1.30 0.515

Time reliability 1.39 0.522 1.41 0.520 1.38 0.516

Crew's hospitality 1.60 0.592 1.59 0.579 1.62 0.623

Fleet of mode 1.69 0.532 1.66 0.546 1.61 0.540

Furthermore, to find out whether there is different perception regarding each aspect of

service quality among cities, a Kruskal Wallis’s analysis was performed (see Table 4). Two

aspects out of fifteen are significantly different at 5% and one aspect out of fifteen is

significantly different at 10%. The aspects of comfort in the car and security in shelter have

different rating on its level of importance. Users in Jakarta and Bandung perceived the aspect

of comfort in the car as more important (1.49), while the aspect received less level of

importance in Yogyakarta. The aspect of security in shelter is rated as more important by users

in Bandung than user of Jakarta and Yogyakarta. Respondent in Bandung also rated the ease

of access as more important compared to respondent in Jakarta and Yogyakarta.

Table 4. Comparison of perception regarding level of importance using Kruskal Wallis

Aspects Chi-Square df Asymp. Sig.

Cleanliness in car 3.508 2 0.173

Cleanliness in shelter/stop 4.303 2 0.116

Condition of car 0.558 2 0.756

Condition of shelter/stop 3.124 2 0.210

Comfort in car 6.750 2 0.034

Comfort in shelter/stop 2.454 2 0.293

Route coverage 0.283 2 0.868

Ease of payment 1.913 2 0.384

Security in car 2.920 2 0.232

Security in shelter/stop 15.618 2 0.000

Ease of access 4.775 2 0.092

Driver's skill 4.261 2 0.119

Time reliability 0.768 2 0.681

Crew's hospitality 0.059 2 0.971

Fleet of mode 2.891 2 0.236


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Based on level of satisfaction, the users in these three cities have similar trend that they

were more concerned about the satisfaction than importance (see Table 5). It shows a gap

between the level of importance and level of satisfaction for the aspects of service quality. It

means users gave a high expectation on the aspects of service quality but they experience

something that gave them dissatisfaction. It is interesting to note that users in Bandung gave a

rating as more dissatisfied than users in the other two cities.

Contrast with the result of comparison based on level of importance, the comparison

among cities based on level of satisfaction results only three out of fifteen aspects are

experienced as not different (see Table 6). The three aspects, which are experienced as not

difference, are condition of car, ease of access, and fleet of the mode. It means twelve aspects

are experienced differently among users in Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta.

Table 5. Descriptive statistics of service quality aspect based on level of satisfaction

Aspects Yogyakarta (n=182) Jakarta (n=217) Bandung (n=450)

Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev.

Cleanliness in car 2.65 0.755 2.75 0.728 2.79 0.555

Cleanliness in shelter/stop 2.65 0.718 2.82 0.753 2.97 0.626

Condition of car 2.67 0.773 2.73 0.742 2.65 0.620

Condition of shelter/stop 2.55 0.694 2.78 0.692 2.90 0.615

Comfort in car 2.55 0.776 2.68 0.786 2.77 0.666

Comfort in shelter/stop 2.54 0.717 2.74 0.738 2.87 0.621

Route coverage 2.28 0.668 2.41 0.696 2.46 0.636

Ease of payment 2.25 0.639 2.37 0.654 2.60 0.677

Security in car 2.46 0.748 2.72 0.859 2.65 0.704

Security in shelter/stop 2.44 0.701 2.82 0.784 2.77 0.669

Ease of access 2.37 0.684 2.34 0.649 2.33 0.577

Driver's skill 2.32 0.703 2.49 0.752 2.67 0.702

Time reliability 2.75 0.781 2.74 0.745 2.88 0.738

Crew's hospitality 2.33 0.698 2.66 0.760 2.74 0.676

Fleet of mode 2.37 0.700 2.43 0.677 2.36 0.580

Table 6. Comparison of perception regarding level of satisfaction using Kruskal Wallis


Cleanliness in car 5.876 2 0.053

Cleanliness in shelter/stop 30.362 2 0.000

Condition of car 2.205 2 0.332

Condition of shelter/stop 37.813 2 0.000

Comfort in car 11.871 2 0.003

Comfort in shelter/stop 29.876 2 0.000

Route coverage 9.201 2 0.010

Ease of payment 38.756 2 0.000

Security in car 13.654 2 0.001

Security in shelter/stop 38.943 2 0.000

Ease of access 0.567 2 0.753

Driver's skill 31.639 2 0.000

Time reliability 6.486 2 0.039

Crew's hospitality 41.993 2 0.000

Fleet of mode 2.374 2 0.305


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Figure 3. Negative experiences in using paratransit in three cities


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Besides exploration regarding users’ perception on the aspects of service quality, this

study also explores the negative experiences when using the mode (see Figure 3). Around

35% of users in Yogyakarta experiences long waiting time in several times, while 41%

experienced it as frequent. Users in Bandung seem to have higher negative experience in

waiting than others, with Jakarta in the second place. Similar pattern with the experience of

long waiting time appear in the aspect of lateness. The pattern of experiencing accident also

appears in the experience of loss of belonging, where it exists in three cities. Most of the users

never experiencing accident or loss of belonging, while most of them just sometime

experiencing them.

Negative experience about payment and information has a similarity, where it also

appears in these three cities. Around 50% of users sometimes have negative experience about

payment or difficulty in information. The possible reason for this finding is they are frequent

users in this system. This also appears as a reason for users in Bandung, Jakarta, and

Yogyakarta in experiencing the difficulty in service, such as not operating as there is a strike,

or they should transfer several times as the route did not connect very well.

It is important to observe that only one out of seven is significantly not different among

these three cities. Thus, six aspects are significantly different among cities at 5%. Detail

analysis results are provided in Table 7.

Table 7. Comparison of perception regarding negative experience using Kruskal Wallis


Waiting 27.813 2 0.000

Lateness 12.152 2 0.002

Accident 3.200 2 0.202

Loss of belonging 6.955 2 0.031

Payment 19.068 2 0.000

Information 9.937 2 0.007

Difficulty in service 29.626 2 0.000

5. CONCLUSIONS

This article reports the characteristics of paratransit, which is well known as Angkutan Kota

(Angkot) and the users of Angkot from three cities. Angkot has flexibility in operation time,

where the number of unit operated in route, route coverage, and fare per kilometres has been

regulated by government. In practice, there is flexibility also in fare payment and route. This

system is self-sustaining, where there are almost no government supports. The owners and

drivers should struggle to survive by racing in road to get passenger, and personally adjust the

standard of maintenance. In long term, the existence of this mode become harder as they have

to compete with the growth of motorization, especially motorcycle.

Data were collected from three cities in Indonesia: Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta to

examine the users and travel characteristics of Angkot in these three cities. Perceptions on the

level of service based on importance and satisfactions were inquired. Negative experience

faced by users when using this service was also explored in the study.

Users of Angkot can be categorized as a young age group, who are student or young

professional. They use Angkot for daily usage in fulfilling mobility for working or studying.

Therefore, during weekend, less of them who use Angkot for their weekend activities,

probably they shift to another mode more convenient for family/group travel.

From fifteen aspects of Angkot, all have been identified to be important aspects for


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passengers. Security in Angkot is ranked first for all three cities with outstanding mean value,

even when compared with the second important rank. In general, respondents in the three

cities equally perceived the importance of the attributes. The situation is on the opposite side

for satisfaction level, where only three aspects were similarly perceived among the three cities.

On the whole, respondents agreed that none of the aspects is satisfactory with respondents in

Yogyakarta relatively perceived to be less dissatisfied to the attributes may be due to the

different size and economic development of the city compared to Bandung and Jakarta.

Respondents in Jakarta and Bandung indicated similar opinions on the worst performance of

attributes, which do not have the same degree as perceived by respondents in Yogyakarta.

Perceptions on the negative experiences also support this notion.

As the success of the provision of public transport depends largely on the acceptance of

the market, thus a deep knowledge regarding the behaviour and attitude of users, in term of

travel and using public transport will increase the users’ loyalty. Flexibility and level of

adaptation of this mode in transportation system depends on how the service matches with the

local construct, which may be defined by the size and level of economic development of the

city. It also means that proposing service should consider the regulatory regime in local area.

In developing countries, where the system has not been working well, the introduction of

strict, inclusive, and transparent regulations become important.

The operation of paratransit needs to be planned to contribute to the objective of the

provision of public transport, i.e. in increasing accessibility for all people in the city and

providing mobility for all. It implies the potential contribution of paratransit to public

transport system in urban area. The potential contribution can generate positive impact when

the operation is planned with correct understanding to the unique characteristics of paratransit.

The flexible nature of paratransit service should be placed correctly according to the hierarchy

of service to produce integrated public transport services. It means paratransit should not be

placed at major or arterial road with high demand. With its characteristics, it is more

appropriate to operate paratransit in local or collector road, where paratransit can act as a

feeder to main service, or as a local mode in neighbourhood area. Understanding of the

characteristics and placing correctly the service will ensure positive impact, i.e. sustainability

and integrative public transport services in urban area. This kind of recommendation will not

produce a positive impact when there is no improvement in the business operation of the

mode. Individual operation paratransit, as exists at present, needs for adjustment by

introducing business unit rather than individual. Converting paratransit from individual to

business unit will provide many positive impacts as it is easier to manage and organize.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors express their thanks to the Ministry of Research and Technology, Republic of

Indonesia, for providing research fund through the Incentive Program for Applied Research

(Program Insentif Riset Terapan). This article is a part of the research project, i.e. The

Development of Transportation Policies based on Travel Behavior to Increase the Usage of

Public Transportation in Indonesia (Pengembangan Kebijakan Transportasi Berbasis Perilaku

Pelaku Perjalanan untuk Meningkatkan Penggunaan Angkutan Umum di Indonesia). The

authors also express their appreciation to Prof. Wimpy Santosa for providing permission to

use the data.

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