Sebastian Buhai (@sbuhai.bsky.social)

Optimal Public Transportation Networks: Evidence from the World’s Largest Bus Rapid Transit System in Jakarta (Forthcoming Article) - 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. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20230768&from=f