The objective of this paper is to describe the current vehicle operation cost (VOC) and load factor (LF) performance of the micro-bus transit (namely, Pete-pete) which has been operating as an inter-city public transport in Mamminasata Metropolitan Area (MMA) in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The study focuses on the three origin-destination trips of the public transport in the area, i.e. Makassar-Maros route, Makassar-Sungguminasa route, and Makassar-Takalar route. The VOC survey for the transits uses interview method, while its analysis adopts Indonesia Ministry of Transportation. Meanwhile, the LF measurement is conducted by distance zone system as long as the transit???s route. The analysis results show that the three routes have similar VOC categorized as highly cost. As well as, the three routes have low LF performance. The study results are useful in development of the public transportation management such as mode and route choice models in MMA for further studies

Ali, Nur

Nasrullah, Nirwan

Parung, Herman

Ramli, Muhammad Isran

Hasanuddin University Repository

Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
Vehicle Operation Cost and Load Factor of Inter-City Micro-Bus Transit in 
Mamminasata Metropolitan Area 
 
Nirwan NASRULLAH a, Herman PARUNG b, Nur ALI c,  
Muhammad Isran RAMLI d 
 
a,b,c,d Graduate School of Civil Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Hasanuddin 
University, Makassar, 90-245, Indonesia 
a E-mail: nirwannasrullah@gmail.com 
b E-mail: muhisran@yahoo.com 
c E-mail: nuralimti@gmail.com 
d E-mail: hermanparung@gmail.com 
 
 
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to describe the current vehicle operation cost (VOC) 
and load factor (LF) performance of the micro-bus transit (namely, Pete-pete) which has been 
operating as an inter-city public transport in Mamminasata Metropolitan Area (MMA) in 
South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The study focuses on the three origin-destination trips of 
the public transport in the area, i.e. Makassar-Maros route, Makassar-Sungguminasa route, 
and Makassar-Takalar route. The VOC survey for the transits uses interview method, while its 
analysis adopts Indonesia Ministry of Transportation. Meanwhile, the LF measurement is 
conducted by distance zone system as long as the transit’s route. The analysis results show 
that the three routes have similar VOC categorized as highly cost. As well as, the three routes 
have low LF performance. The study results are useful in development of the public 
transportation management such as mode and route choice models in MMA for further 
studies. 
 
Keywords: Vehicle Operation Cost, Load Factor, Micro-Bus Transit, Inter-City 
 
 
1. INTRODUCTION 
 
Nowadays, the activity-travel of individuals on urban area in Asian developing cities, such as 
Makassar City, Indonesia is increasing rapidly. The activity travel demand needs 
infrastructure supply such as various transportation modes and transportation networks. 
Regarding the activity-travel demand in Makassar City, the capital city of South Sulawesi 
Province, the current mode and infrastructure transportation supply is not adequate to serve 
the demand (Ramli & Hustim, 2003; Jusmin et al, 2003). This problem is supported by the 
increase of the activity-travel from and to its neighbor cities such as Maros, Gowa and Takalar 
(JICA Report, 2007). In order to overcome the transportation problem in the area, the 
government of Indonesia has made a regulation in order to develop the integrated land use 
transportation of the cities. In this regard, the four cities are called Mamminasata 
Metropolitan Area (Indonesia President, 2011). In cooperation with JICA, the government of 
South Sulawesi Province has already arranged a land use development plan of the MMA for 
the short, middle, and long terms (JICA Report, 2007).  
The MMA plan also has provided a transportation system development plan as shown in 
Figure 1b in order to serve the activity-travel demand in the MMA, particularly inter-city 
travel among the cities in Mamminasata Area. However, the supporting programs in 
implementing the MMA’s transportation plan are not provided yet, such as transition activities 
Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
 
program from the current public transportation to the public mass transportation, activities 
program in changing travel behavior of individual within MMA, etc. Regarding this, the 
MMA plan needs a supporting plan such as a development plan of the current transportation 
system in each city in the Mamminasata area. Therefore, an efficient and effective public 
transportation management for inter-city travel-activity in the MMA can be formed in the 
future. 
In order to contribute to the field, this paper attempts to describe the current vehicle 
operation cost (VOC) and load factor (LF) performance of the micro-bus transit (namely, 
Pete-Pete) which has been operating as inter-city public transportation in Mamminasata 
Metropolitan Area (MMA) in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. For this purpose, the study 
focuses to capture the three origin-destination trips of the public transportation in the MMA, 
i.e. Makassar-Maros route, Makassar-Sungguminasa route, and Makassar-Takalar route.  
The rest of this paper is presented as follows. The next section presents the study 
methods then followed by a description of the VOC and LF performance of the current public 
transportation in the MMA. Finally, the paper provides a conclusion regarding the analysis 
results. 
 
 
2. STUDY METHODS 
 
2.1 The Study Location 
 
Figure 1 shows the current public transportation network as the study location of this research. 
Also, the figure presents the public mass transportation as the MMA plan (Figure 1b). 
    
a. The current public transport network       b. The public transport network of MMA Plan 
(Ali & Ramli, 2007; Aly & Ramli, 2004)                   (JICA, 2007) 
Figure 1. The public transport network in Mamminasata Metropolitan Area 
 
2.2 The Number of Micro-Bus Transit as Inter-City Public Transport in MMA 
 
Table 1 shows the population number of the micro-bus transit operating as inter-city public 
transportation in Mamminasata area. Table 1 also shows that the number of micro-bus as 
inter-city public transportation on Makassar-Maros via Jl. Perintis route are 493 units, and 615 
Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
 
units registered and observed, respectively. For Makassar-Maros via Jl. Sutami/Tol, there are 
387 units registered, and 417 units observed. On the track of Makassar-Gowa, there are 650 
units bus observed. For Makassar-Takalar route, there are no available micro-bus registered, 
however, in actuality, a few seems to operate from Takalar. Therefore, this study attempts to 
capture their performances. 
Table 1. Number of micro-bus transit in the MMA 
Inter-city track in Mamminasata 
Micro-Bus Number Micro-bus 
Capacity Registred Observed 
Makassar – Maros Via Perintis 493 615 11 
Makassar – Maros Via Sutami/Tol 387 417 11 
Makassar – Gowa 650 752 11 
Makassar - Takalar - - 11 
 
2.3 The Survey Method of Vehicle Operation Cost (VOC) 
 
The VOC data is collected using an interview survey to the operators of the micro-bus transit 
in each route. The survey based on a questionnaire sheet involving questions about the items 
of vehicle operation cost such as direct cost (i.e. reduction cost, capital interest cost, bus crew 
cost, gasoline cost, tire cost, vehicle maintenance cost, terminal cost, ownership 
administrative cost, bus inspection cost, and insurance cost) and indirect cost. 
 
2.4 Measurement Method of Load Factor 
 
The load factor values of the micro-bus in the MMA are measured using a survey method 
which observes the loading-unloading process of the passengers along the micro-bus route. In 
this regard, the travel distance of the micro-bus is divided into some zone based on 
km-traveled. The zone dividing system of the three micro-bus routes operating in the MMA 
are presented in Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4 for Makassar-Maros route, Makassar-Gowa 
route, and Makassar-Takalar route, respectively. 
Table 2. The zone dividing system of Makassar – Maros route  
Route/Zone Makassar-Maros (Round trip) Distance (Km) 
1 Terminal Marusu-Maccopa 2 
2 Maccopa-Batang Ase 3 
3 Batang Ase-Bulu-bulu 3 
4 Bulu-bulu - Sudiang 3 
5 Sudiang - Daya 3 
6 Daya-Unhas Tamalanrea 5 
7 Unhas Tamalanrea-Tello 2 
8 Tello-Terminal Panaikang 3 
Total of Travel Distance (Km) 15 
 
 
3. RESULTS 
 
3.1 The Vehicle Characteristics of the Micro-Bus Mode 
 
Regarding the survey results, the vehicle characteristics such as producer, brand, and engine 
size capacity of the micro-bus mode operating as inter-city public transportation in the MMA 
Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
 
are presented in Table 5. Table 5 shows that the brand of the micro-bus operating in the MMA 
varies from Hijet, Zebra, T120SS, ST, and Carry. The producers or their industries are 
dominated by three biggest automotive industries from Japan, i.e. Daihatsu, Mitsubishi, and 
Suzuki. In addition, the engine size capacity of the micro-bus varies from 970 cc to 1500 cc. 
Table 3. The zone dividing system of Makassar – Gowa routes  
Route/Zone Gowa-Makassar (Go) Makassar-Gowa (Back) Distance (Km) 
0 Term. Cappa Bungaya Karebosi 1 
1 Terminal Baji Minasa Gubernuran 1 
2 Jl. KH. Wahid Hasyim Kantor PLN 1 
3 Kodim Sunggu Minasa Mall Ratu Indah 1 
4 Ruko Bulukumba Jaya RS Labuang Baji 1 
5 Term. Malengkeri Jl. Veteran Selatan 1 
6 Kampus Unismuh Gedung Lestari 45 1 
7 Kampus UIN Kampus UIN 1 
8 SD di Jl. A. Tonro Kampus Unismuh 1 
9 Jl. Kumala Terminal Malengkeri 1 
10 RS. Labuang Baji Ruko Bulukumba Jaya 1 
11 Mall Ratu Indah Kodim Sunggu Minasa 1 
12 Kantor PLN Jl. KH. Wahid H 1 
13 Gubernuran Terminal Baji Minasa 1 
14 Karebosi Terminal Cappa Bungaya 1 
Total of travel distance (Km) 15 
 
Table 4. The zone dividing system of Makassar – Takalar routes 
Route/Zone Makassar-Taklar (Round trip) Distance (Km) 
1 Kota Takalar 3 
2 Limbung 3 
3 Palangga 2 
4 Sungguminasa 1 
5 Jl. St. Alauddin 7 
6 Jl. Ratulangi 4 
7 Karebosi 4 
Total of travel distance (Km) 23 km 
 
Table 5. The vehicle characteristics of the micro-bus mode 
No. Producer Brand Engine Size Capacity 
1 Daihatsu Hijet 1000 cc 
2 Daihatsu Zebra 1300 cc 
3 Mitsubishi T120SS 1000 cc 
4 Mitsubishi T120SS 1343 cc 
5 Suzuki ST 970 cc 
6 Suzuki Carry 1.0 1000 cc 
7 Suzuki Futura 1300 cc 
8 Suzuki Carry 1.5 1500 cc 
 
3.2 Vehicle Operation Cost (VOC) of the Micro-Bus Transit 
 
The VOC average of the micro-bus transit operating in Mamminasata Metropolitan Area 
(MMA) is shown in Table 6. Table 6 shows that the vehicle operation cost of the micro-bus of 
Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
 
Makassar-Maros route consists of 94.38 IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, 0.12 
IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, and 94.50 IDR/per-passenger-seat.km for the direct cost, indirect 
cost, and total cost, respectively. Furthermore, the VOC of micro-bus of Makassar-Gowa 
route are 117.82 IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, 0.18 IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, and 118.01 
IDR/per-passenger-seat.km for the direct cost, indirect cost, and total cost, respectively. 
Similarly, the VOC of micro-bus on Makassar-Takalar route for the three cost items are 
115.30 IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, 0.18 IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, and 115.48 
IDR/per-passenger-seat.km, respectively. 
Comprehensively, the VOC of micro-bus for Makassar-Gowa and Makassar-Takalar 
routes are mostly similar. Meanwhile, the VOC of the Makssar-Maros route is lower than both 
routes. 
Table 6. VOC averagely of the micro-bus transit 
No. VOC Items  
VOC Average (IDR) of each route 
Makassar 
- Maros 
Makassar - 
Gowa 
Takalar- 
Gowa 
1. Direct Cost  94,38 117,82 115,30 
  a. Reduction Cost  16,82      8,95      8,95  
  b. Capital Interest Cost      8,52      8,08      8,14  
  c. Bus Crew Cost 12,98  12,98  12,98  
  d. Gasoline Cost 42,83  50,76  50,76  
  e. Tire Cost 2,25              6,49  6,49  
  f. Vehicle Maintenance Cost 8,86  16,60  16,60  
  g. Terminal Cost      1,12      1,53      1,53  
  h. Ownership Administrative Cost 0,56  0,61  0,61  
  i. Bus Inspection Cost 0,15  0,23  0,23  
  j. Insurance Cost 0,31  1,59  1,59  
2. Indirect Cost 0,12  0,18  0,18  
3. Cost Total (pass-seat.km) 94,50  118,01  115,48 
 
3.3 Load Factor (LF) Performance of the Micro-Bus Transit 
 
The load factor (LF) average of the micro-bus transit operating in Mamminasata Metropolitan 
Area (MMA) is shown in Figure 2 for the round trips of Makassar-Maros route, 
Makassar-Gowa route, and Makassar-Takalar route, respectively. 
First, Figure 2a and Figure 2b show the load factor of the micro-bus of Makassar-Maros 
route for the round trips respectively. The Figures show that the highest LF average is 46.83% 
which occurred at zone-5 on Maros-Makassar route. The general phenomenon of the LF on 
the route is the LF at the zone-1 is 24.60% then increases until at zone-4. Next, the LF values 
decrease until 9.92% at zone-8. For Makassar-Maros route, the LF phenomenon is very small 
at the beginning zone (zone-8), 7.14% then the LF values increase more and more until 
zone-4 (LF values is 44.05%). Thus, at the two successive zones, the LF values are relatively 
stable, and then slightly decrease at the end of the route (zone-1) with value 31.76%. 
Furthermore, Figure 2c and Figure 2d show that the LF values of the micro-bus on 
Gowa-Makassar route are 0.50 – 0.55 at the first zone (Terminal Cappa Bungaya) until zone-5 
and zone-6 (Terminal Malengkeri-Campus of Unismuh University). Then, the LF values 
decrease until the last zone (zone 13-14 or Karebosi Ground Park). In this zone, the LF value 
is 0,15. In this regard, the LF values begin to decrease drastically at zone 9-10 (Jl. 
Kumala-RS. Labuang Baji) and at zone 10-11 (RS. Labuang Baji-Mall Ratu Indah). 
Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
 
24,60
32,54
40,48
46,83
35,32
19,44
13,49
9,92
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rute Maros - Makassar (Per-Zona)
LO
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42,06
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Rute Makassar - Maros (Per-Zona)
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e. Makassar – Takalar route (Round trips) 
Figure 2 The load factor performance of the micro-bus in the MMA 
 
Finally, Figure 2e shows that the LF performances of the micro-bus on 
Makassar-Takalar route achieves the highest values only at zone-4 and zone-7 where the LF 
values are 30.0% in average. At the other zones, the LF values are only lower than 10%. 
Overall, the LF values of micro-bus on Makassar-Gowa route are slightly higher than 
the LF values of micro-bus on Makassar-Maros route. However, the LF values of the 
micro-bus on Makassar-Takalar route are lower enough than both routes. 
 
 
5. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 
 
Two important aspects, vehicle operation cost (VOC) and load factor (LF), in operation of the 
micro-bus transit system as inter-city public transport in Makassar Greater Area, namely 
Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.9, 2013 
 
 
Maminasata Metropolitan Area (MMA) in Indonesia, have been elaborated. The study has 
attempted to capture performances of both indicators on the three operating routes that are 
available in the city, i.e. Makassar-Maros route, Makassar-Gowa route, and Makassar-Takalar 
route.  
The VOC of micro-bus for Makassar-Gowa and Makassar-Takalar routes are mostly 
similar while the Makssar-Maros route has lower VOC than both routes. Further, the LF 
values of micro-bus on Makassar-Gowa route are slightly higher than the LF values on 
Makassar-Maros route while the LF values on Makassar-Takalar route are lower enough than 
both routes. Overall, all the routes have the VOC values which are categorized as highly cost. 
In other side, the three routes have low LF performances (the LFs are not more than 50%in 
average). 
Briefly, we expect that the study results are useful in development of mode and route 
choice models, ability and willingness to pay model of individual in further studies toward the 
sustainable public transportation management in the MMA. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 
 
We would like to express our thanks and appreciation to Indonesian Transportation 
Society, South Sulawesi Branch and Institute Survey on Transportation and Environment 
(ISTE) which supported us to access and utilized the survey data for the purpose of this 
paper. Without their cooperation, this paper would not be possible to be arranged. We 
also address highly appreciation and thanks to reviewers who had given correction of the 
early and short form of this paper in the 15th FSTPT National Symposium, Indonesia, 
2012. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
Ali, N., and Ramli, M. I. (2007) Optimize demand of para transit with break event point 
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Aly, S.H., and Ramli, M.I. (2004), Performance Evaluation of Mass Transit in South 
Sulawesi Province, Proceeding of Annual National Symposium 7th of Transportation 
Studies Forum inter-University in Indonesia, Bandung, West Java. 
Indonesia President. (2011) Master Plan of Mamminasata Metropolitan Area (MMA). 
Regulation of Indonesia President, No. 55-2011. In Indonesia Language. 
JICA. (2007). Study on Mamminasata Metropolitan Area (MMA) Development Plan. 
Final Report of JICA & South Sulawesi Province Collaboration Project. 
Jusmin, N., Yudono, A., Hafid, and Renta, I. (2003) Study on Satisfied Level of 
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Vehicle Operation Cost and Load Factor of Inter-City Micro-Bus Transit in Mamminasata Metropolitan Area

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Vehicle Operation Cost and Load Factor of Inter-City Micro-Bus Transit in Mamminasata Metropolitan Area

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