The 2024 Christmas and 2025 New Year Celebrations (Nataru 2024/2025) has just ended.
It is estimated that approximately 110 million people traveled during the Nataru 2024/2025 holiday, which occurred from Dec 18, 2024, to Jan 8, 2025.
Various government programs were designed and implemented in collaboration with different sectors to ensure travelers’ safety, comfort, and security during the holiday season.
These programs included free homecoming trips via sea transport, a 10% reduction in domestic airline ticket prices, free motorbike transport services from various origins and destinations, traffic management on toll and non-toll roads such as one-way, contra-flow, rest area management, restrictions on freight vehicle operations, U-turn limitations, toll gate optimization, and various other initiatives.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the government’s transportation policies during the Nataru 2024/2025 holiday, the Center for Transportation and Logistics Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (Pustral UGM) conducted a national survey on transportation user satisfaction.
The survey was conducted through interviews to assess the public’s perception of various transportation policies during Nataru 2024/2025.
A sample of 5,804 respondents was surveyed, with a margin of error of 1.35%, across seven provinces projected to represent approximately 62% of travel destinations during Nataru 2024/2025. The survey covered around 37 transportation hubs and road sections in each province from Dec 29, 2024, to Jan 3, 2025, which was predicted to be the peak period of public movement.
Dr. Ikaputra, Head of Pustral UGM, stated that all assessment indicators were declared valid and reliable based on validity and reliability tests.
Quoting the survey results, he noted that 86% of respondents expressed or were strongly satisfied, 1.6% expressed dissatisfaction, and 11.3% were neutral. The Transportation User Satisfaction Index reached a score of 4.39 (88.28% of the maximum score), placing it in the very satisfied category.
The highest index was achieved in the Safety aspect of public transportation with a score of 4.6 (92.31% of the maximum score), while the lowest index was in the Safety Awareness aspect with a score of 4.2 (83.56% of the maximum score).
Dr. Ikaputra shared these findings during the “National Survey Release on Public Perception of Transportation Services During the 2024 Christmas & 2025 New Year Holidays”, held at UGM’s University Club (UC) on Friday (Jan 10).
Referring to the survey results, Dr. Ikaputra noted that transportation user satisfaction by mode showed the highest satisfaction index was achieved by rail transportation with a score of 4.6 (92.59% of the maximum score), particularly in terms of service innovation, punctuality, and ease of information.
The lowest was in the bus mode, with a score of 4.2 (83.98% of the maximum score), particularly regarding service staff, safety awareness, and ease of information.
Despite the relatively high level of public satisfaction, several issues still require attention. These issues include ticket availability (railway, ASDP), punctuality and fare affordability (air transport), road quality and traffic management (road/private vehicles), intermediaries (ASDP), and cleanliness and comfort in waiting areas and facilities (sea transport).
“In addition to questions about service quality, this survey also asked about users’ attitudes and views on various government policies during the Nataru 2024/2025 period, such as free homecoming trips and the airline ticket price reduction policy, with 89.7% of respondents supporting these policies,” he explained.
Pustral UGM organized the Survey Release event in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation.
The event, opened by UGM Rector Professor Ova Emilia, featured respondents including Ahmad Yani (Acting Director General of Land Transportation), Professor Danang Parikesit (Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), Agus Pambagio (Public Policy Observer), Tulus Abadi (Indonesian Consumers Foundation/YLKI), and Danang Giri Sadewa as a transportation user influencer.
The event, attended by stakeholders from central and regional levels, was moderated by Dr. Yuli Isnadi, one of Pustral UGM’s expert staff and a lecturer at UGM’s Faculty of Social and Political Sciences.
Ahmad Yani expressed pride in the survey results, which showed high public satisfaction with government policies. He noted that during the Nataru period, the increase in traffic was only 30-40% compared to normal conditions, whereas during Eid, the increase could reach 300%.
This outcome will certainly serve as a basis for the Ministry of Transportation’s preparations for the upcoming Eid period.
Agus Pambagio concurred, hoping that the survey results would be further analyzed to provide recommendations for policymakers.
Meanwhile, Tulus Abadi emphasized the need to adhere to minimum service standards, especially when operating toll roads and managing traffic during special periods such as Nataru and Eid.
Professor Parikesit highlighted an interesting phenomenon: public satisfaction tends to be higher with infrastructure managed by monopolistic state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than with facilities managed by private entities with alternative operators.
Meanwhile, Danang Sadewa noted social media’s strong influence on public perceptions of public services.
Observing the public perception reflected in the survey results, it is essential that the government and all transportation service providers not become complacent with the positive public perception of the quality of services during Nataru 2024/2025 but instead remain vigilant and continue improving service aspects that need optimization.
Pustral UGM hopes that the survey results will serve as input for the government in organizing transportation services for future Nataru and Eid periods. During these periods, significant public movement occurs, requiring special attention from all stakeholders so that beneficial programs can be enhanced and continued.
Attention should be given to services with lower satisfaction levels to ensure significant improvements.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya