Transport Policies and Planning in Bandung

Abstract

Rapid urbanisation, fast economic growth and high-density urban form created urban transport challenges in Bandung, which traditionally responded by widening existing and building new roads. The resulting increase in motorisation caused an eventual decline of public transport and increasing air pollution. This chapter investigates transport-related decision-making in Bandung and puts urban transport, spatial planning, development planning and climate change policies under a spotlight to trace how Bandung’s BRT project was initiated by central government and carried out by the city government. The central government’s decision to introduce BRT as ‘a pilot project’ had financial consequences for the Bandung city government. The BRT development as a whole did not take account of the socio-political situation in Bandung, where local politicians were keen to carry out a BRT project, while local transport operators strongly resisted this initiative. The BRT project in Bandung aims to improve the quality of public transport services to enhance public transport’s safety, comfort, punctuality and overall quality while charging affordable fares. However, angkot drivers, who perceived they might lose their livelihood, resisted the project in a citywide protest. This resistance caused the BRT project to be developed in the urban periphery, making the project unattractive to residents. This chapter shows the important role of local political dynamics and of engaging community organisations in policy implementation at the local level.