THE EDITOR – Public transport is still not a favorite among regional heads in campaigning, especially mayors. As a result, public transport systems in almost all regions in Indonesia are not as adequate as in neighboring countries.
“Another major obstacle is the factor of regional heads (especially mayors) who are still unwilling to prioritize public transport services as the prima donna mode of transport in their respective cities,” said Alviansyah, University of Indonesia Transport Observer, to The Editor.
Although there are governors and mayors who are aware of developing transport modes in their areas, he continued, they only rely on funds from the central government.
As a result, if funding stops, the development of transport modes will automatically be hampered because it is not arranged in a clear and directed format.
“Except for a few mayors and governors who have started to realize and implement a better public transport system. Even then, they are still supported by funding from the central government, namely the Ministry of Transport, and it remains to be seen whether or not the service will survive if the funding support stops,” he said.
What is even more concerning, said Alviansyah, is that the implementation of the development of public transport modes in the regions still seems superficial.
This happens because the development planning system in the field of transport prepared by regional heads is not a priority at all.
“Efforts to improve public transport services, especially for urban public transport have begun, but are still far from adequate. It still seems perfunctory and does not seem to be a top priority in the context of its implementation,” he said.
WHAT MAKES REGIONAL HEADS RELUCTANT TO BUILD PUBLIC TRANSPORT MODES?
According to Alviansyah, there are several things that make regional heads reluctant to build public transport modes, including:
- Minimal fiscal capacity
2. The lack of awareness and alignment of regional heads to develop public transport modes in their cities
3. Low competence of human resources (HR)
4. Low understanding of regional heads in the field of public transport
5. As a result of such policies, he sees a potential decline in the tourism sector and the economy will continue to decline in the future.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
So far, he considers that transport issues are more dominant in political issues rather than technical issues, so that the solution must be done with a political approach.
In fact, he really hopes that regional heads will treat transport policy as an ideology.
Thus, regional heads can look at public transport development from the other side. So, when working on it, it is not limited to building infrastructure and facilities, but includes management and operation which certainly has implications for comprehensive financial, institutional and regulatory aspects.
