The Future of Public Transportation: From Policy to Financing

JAKARTA - The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Indonesia is pushing for the strengthening of public transportation policies in Indonesia. This is because, to date, public transportation has not been fully positioned as a basic service that local governments are obliged to provide. Deliani Siregar, Deputy Director of ITDP Indonesia, stated that this is due to the absence of a strong legal mandate for local governments to operate public transportation. This situation makes the development of public transport in various cities still heavily reliant on the priorities and capacities of each local government. “Unlike education or health, which are included in the Minimum Service Standards (SPM), city bus-based public transportation to this day does not have a similar obligation. As a result, transportation budgets often lose out in competition with other sectors during local budget negotiations, even with regional parliaments,” she said, quoted from an official statement on Wednesday (6/5/2026). According to Deliani, strengthening this mandate is important so that public transportation can be planned and funded more consistently, not just depending on short-term priorities, but as part of the services needed by the community. “Without a clear mandate, public transportation will always be in a low-priority position, even though its role is very important in supporting community mobility and urban productivity,” Deliani said. In the Jabodetabek area, for example, the expansion of Transjakarta services to satellite cities is often hampered by differences in authority, disagreements on financing between regions, and unclear leadership in coordination. On the financing side, regions outside Jakarta face serious structural barriers. In addition to limited regional budgets, many areas lack the technical capacity to access creative financing schemes such as Land Value Capture (LVC) or green financing. Meanwhile, the carbon certification mechanism for the transportation sector in Indonesia is not yet available, closing off one potential funding source that has been utilised by other countries. “Going forward, public transportation needs to be positioned as the main foundation of urban mobility. With a stronger policy framework and cross-sector collaboration, we can ensure a more reliable, inclusive, and sustainable transportation system for the community,” Deliani concluded.