Paratransit Transportation as a feeder for Rail-Based Transportation

Connectivity is still one of the most crucial issues to be solved in Bandung Metropolitan Area. A limited number of adequate mass transits convinced the informal operators to provide the market demand for movement (Cervero and Golub, 2007b) and establishment of Paratransit Transportation is inevitable. Angkutan Kota, as one of Paratransit Transportation, is considered as most reliable transportation with 91% loyal users (Tarigan, Susilo, et al., 2014). It suitable for Bandung’s geographical landscape, and has acceptable fares for its service. Conversely, many residents of BMA perceived Angkutan Kota as the sources for traffic problems and crime issues, and 56% of online respondents want Angkutan Kota to be eliminated from the city. Despite these situations, it was confirmed that Angkutan Kota has a potential in enhancing the mass transit ridership. This idea is supported by the previous studies about the connectivity of mass transit, in which might influence the satisfaction level from mass transit (Okada, et al., 2003; Tangphaisankun, Okamura, et al., 2009, Givoni and Rietveld, 2007). Moreover, another study reveals that around 68% train passengers in Bandung city use Angkutan Kota to access its main station (Rohjan, Surdia, et al., 2012). This paper aims to explain the capability of Angkutan Kota as a feeder to complement connectivity for existing Bandung Metropolitan Area’s commuter train services, based on its user satisfaction and intention to use, specifically in Cimahi City. Several studies emphasize the importance of user satisfaction as the determinant for behavioral-intention (Zeithaml, 1988; Cronin and Taylor, 1992), by utilizing perceived value and service quality for the empirical measurement. (Lai and Chen, 2010; Joewono and Kubota, 2007; Sumaedi et al., 2012; de Ona, 2016). Surveys was employed as the main research strategy, by applying quantitative data analysis. The data set for this research was obtained via questionnaire, in which assessing users’ opinion about their satisfaction and loyalty through Angkutan Kota, and their present journey characteristics. The data set was analyzed on SPSS software. In brief, the demographic background indicates that the most common respondents were women (66,8%), generally dominated by full-time employees and students, in the age between 16-25, and 40,3% of them are living in Cimahi city. Based on their livelihood, 52% of the respondents classified as low-income residents. Regarding their present journey, 34,3% of the respondents are considered as a frequent rider of Angkutan Kota. However, only 21,1% are the frequent rider of a commuter train, while the other respondents only use it occasionally. The present journey characteristics also indicate that in general, the respondents spend more than 10 minutes to go to the station from their home and depart from station to their destination. Accordingly, 57,4% of respondents access the station by Angkutan Kota, and 49,8% also ride with it to reach their workplace or school. Addressing the satisfaction score for Angkutan Kota, on average, respondents affirm its perceived value and service quality by assign the decent scores for both variables. However, the ratings from its intention to use indicators illustrate the uncertainty of future use of Paratransit Transportation as a feeder for Rail-Based Transportation iv Angkutan Kota, because most of the respondents keep being neutral in their opinion about it. For this reason, the Ordinal Logit Regression (OLR) analysis was employed, to figure out the probability from the commuters to use Angkutan Kota in the forthcoming events. In summary, the results from data analysis and interpretation indicate that the perceived value from Angkutan Kota have seen as the key aspect to determine the future use of Angkutan Kota, especially in developing countries (Joewono and Kubota, 2007; Tangphaisankun, 2009). Similarly, cleanliness, reliability in time, accessibility of the vehicle, emergency information and drivers’ skill and attitude perceive as important aspects to motivate people to keep travel with Angkutan Kota in the several years ahead. In regards to commuter train connectivity, loyalty indicators of Angkutan Kota evidently have a significant influence on commuter train ridership. However, even if the perceived value and service quality have a relatively small influence on commuter train ridership, it has a considerable indirect impact towards train services. In this intention, the operators and regulators should manage the plan for both modes of transportation, and improve the attractiveness of public transportation, and reduce the dependency on a private vehicle.