While improved road access can boost local agriculture, it does not necessarily improve the farmers’ welfare, because prices are still determined by the collectors in the village. Thus, the Government should also provide public transportation facilities that can carry people and goods, and they should be managed by village-owned enterprises (Bumdes).
Therefore, farmers can transport their commodities without relying on collectors or cooperatives, and gain more benefits. If farmers are prosperous, more Millennials will become interested in farming. These days, only a few children of farmers are willing to take over their parents’ farming because they know that working as a farmer does not ensure a prosperous life.
Pioneering bus transportation is designed to build connectivity for equitable distribution of development, even to the remotest areas in Indonesia, particularly the 3T areas.
According to Presidential Decree 63/2020 on the designation of disadvantaged regions for 2020-2024, especially in eastern Indonesia, underdeveloped regions are categorized, based on the economic aspect of the community, human resources, facilities and infrastructure, local financial capacity, accessibility and regional characteristics.
In 2023, the road network for pioneering bus services will include 327 routes and 597 vehicles. On Sumatra Island, there will be 53 routes and 121 vehicles. In comparison, Java Island will have 34 routes and 66 vehicles, Kalimantan Island will get 34 routes and 64 vehicles, and Sulawesi Island with 46 routes and 103 vehicles. Papua Island will have 79 routes and 102 vehicles, while Bali and Nusa Tenggara will have 50 routes and 98 vehicles. Lastly, Maluku Islands and Maluku will have 32 routes and 43 vehicles.
For a program of that scale, the 2023 budget ceiling only reaches IDR 177,421,801,000. This pioneering transport budget is only a tenth of the subsidy for the Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) Commuter Line, which is IDR 1.6 trillion.
Unfortunately, the pioneering bus services often have to forge rivers and pass over damaged roads. Local governments are the ones accountable for rehabilitating the damaged provincial and district roads.
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Central Java Province gets the fewest routes (only one), while Papua Province, with 38 routes, has the most. The services will cover 33,969 km. The damaged roads stretch for 4,478 km (13.18 percent). There are no damaged roads. in North Maluku Province. The longest damaged roads were 1,049 km in East Nusa Tenggara. The pioneering bus services also serve two border-post routes, Jayapura to Skow Border Post and Merauke to Sota Border Post.
Ambon to Tutuktolu in Maluku is the longest route, which covers 596 km and takes about 36 hours. Meanwhile, the shortest route is Sofifi to the Governor’s Office in North Maluku Province, which is 10 km long and takes 25 minutes to travel.
The last point is the procurement of public transport that should be adjusted to the geographical conditions of the region. Not all buses need air conditioning, and vehicles should be designed to be able to transport passengers and goods.