Puncak Area Traffic Congestion Management

This Policy Brief recommends public transport subsidy to tackle traffic congestion on Puncak tourism area.

Key issues for addressing congestion in the Puncak area were identified as follows:

1. More than 90% of visitors to the Puncak area are private vehicle users, both cars and motorcycles;

2. Interventions are needed to improve flexibility, cost, and speed in capturing market share for cars and accessibility for motorcycle users;

3. Incentives and disincentives for congestion management must involve tourism actors as a key attraction for visitors to the Puncak area;

4. Integrated public transportation with other modes and tourist attractions is proposed through a Buy the Service scheme; and

5. In the short term, traffic management is needed to differentiate public transportation from private modes to achieve shorter travel times.

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Through Stated Preference (SP) analysis, it was found that buses were the last preferred transport mode. The order of preference for mode selection was shuttle, car, motorcycle, and bus. The significance of shuttle indicates that travelers have a positive sentiment towards their service.

Therefore, specific policies are needed to attract bus users, one of which is service interventions (i.e., comfort and reliability), such as shuttle provision. The findings include:

1. With simulative fares, reducing travel time and fare regulation will benefit shuttle revenue and the program's financial viability;

2. This reduction in time, and especially costs, will also increase the market share of shuttle users. A 10% reduction in travel time and 10% reduction in costs compared to current conditions will increase the bus share by 28.8% and 17.3%, respectively.

3. Shuttle users are willing to pay Rp 74,940 more than the original fare if the travel time is reduced by one hour.

With the land's function as a protected area, the Puncak area —filled with tourist attractions— can utilize the land while maintaining its function. Integration of policies to address traffic congestion in the Puncak area also requires active involvement of existing stakeholders. Incentives for visitors to destinations who use public transportation and disincentives for parking fees for private vehicles in tourist areas are examples of policies that can be combined with transportation policies.

A modal shift simulation was also conducted to measure the sensitivity of Puncak visitors to planned policy variables to reduce congestion in the Puncak area. The probability of modal shift was then divided into several routes originating from transit points to the Puncak area. Based on the results of the revealed and stated preference surveys, the following mode share is calculated based on the assumption of a 16.7% shift to shuttles:

• Shuttle A from Bogor KRL station (8.90%),

• Shuttle B from Baranangsiang terminal (4.53%), and

• Shuttle C from the planned Park and Ride area (3.30%).

This policy is also complemented by the provision of quality public transportation for the Puncak area. The implementation of a regional transportation system based on the Buy the Service (BTS) scheme has become a benchmark for intervention plans to address congestion in the Puncak area. Therefore, a BTS scheme is proposed for public transportation in the Puncak area. The establishment of a Public Service Agency (BAP) ready to manage BTS-based transportation in the Puncak area is crucial.