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  5. Optimal Public Transportation Networks: Evidence from the World’s Largest Bus Rapid Transit System in Jakarta

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Optimal Public Transportation Networks: Evidence from the World’s Largest Bus Rapid Transit System in Jakarta

  • Gabriel Kreindler
  • Arya Gaduh
  • Tilman Graff
  • Rema Hanna
  • Benjamin A. Olken
American Economic Review (Forthcoming)

Abstract

Designing public transport networks involves trade-offs between coverage, service frequency, and direct service. We use the expansion of the bus system in Jakarta, Indonesia, to study these trade-offs. We analyze how new direct connections, changes in bus travel time, and wait time reductions affect bus ridership and aggregate flows, and estimate a transit network demand model by matching the route launch events. Commuters in Jakarta are 2-3 times more sensitive to wait time than bus time, and inattentive to long routes. We develop a flexible framework to characterize optimal networks. A less concentrated network would increase ridership and commuter welfare.

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