Low Rate of School Children Using Public Transportation

A Kompas Research and Development (Litbang Kompas) survey shows that the majority, or 63%, of Indonesian schoolchildren are driven to school by their parents in private vehicles.

27.2% travel to school independently by walking, cycling, motorbike, or car. Only 9.8% use public transportation.

"The choice of transportation for schoolchildren is related to the distance to school and the level of education," wrote the Litbang Kompas researcher in their report on Monday, May 5, 2025.

Looking at education levels, children in kindergarten/playgroup (TK/PG) are most often driven by parents or use school transportation services, with a proportion reaching 100%.

At the elementary school level, the percentage of children driven to school decreases to 70.4%. However, the proportion using public transportation remains low at only 3.8%.

Similarly, at the junior high and high school levels, the proportion of students driven to school remains high, while those using public transportation are less than a quarter.

"Family transportation may be due to continuing habits from childhood, parents commuting to work at the same time, and it has become a cultural norm in Indonesia to drive children to school," wrote the Litbang Kompas researcher.

This survey involved 356 respondents from 62 cities across 28 provinces, randomly selected from the Litbang Kompas panel, in accordance with the population proportion in each region.

Data collection was conducted on April 25-26, 2025, through telephone interviews. The survey's margin of error is approximately 5.19% with a 95% confidence level, under conditions of simple random sampling.