Understanding Public Transport Avoidance in Indonesia: A Narrative Review of Psychological Safety Deficit and Trust Asymmetry as Core Barriers to Adoption
Abstract
Public transport adoption in Indonesia remains limited despite substantial infrastructure development and
ongoing improvements in operational performance. This narrative literature review synthesizes multidisciplinary findings
to explain why Indonesians continue to prefer private and platform-based mobility options. The analysis centres on two
underexamined yet critical mechanisms: Psychological Safety Deficit (PSD) and Trust Asymmetry (TA). PSD refers to
users’ perceived lack of emotional security, agency, and predictability when navigating shared mobility environments,
shaped by concerns regarding harassment, crowding, poor visibility, and inconsistent real-time information. TA captures
the persistent imbalance between trust in public transport institutions and the higher trust placed in private mobility
platforms, often reinforced by fragmented governance, opaque incident handling, and limited responsiveness.
Drawing on literature from 2015 to 2025, complemented by foundational theories of service quality, perceived risk, servicescapes,
and institutional trust, this review demonstrates that functional attributes alone—such as reliability, cleanliness, affordability, or
first/last-mile access—cannot sufficiently address deep-rooted psychological and institutional barriers. Case illustrations from Jakarta
and other Indonesian cities show that credence-oriented interventions, including transparency-by-design mechanisms, platform-style
communication cues, survivor-centric reporting systems, enhanced staff visibility, and predictive passenger information, can more
effectively alleviate PSD and reduce TA.
This review contributes theoretically by reframing public transport avoidance in Indonesia as a credence-driven service adoption
challenge, shaped by affective perceptions and trust judgments rather than operational performance alone. Practically, it introduces the
Trust-and-Safety Signalling Mix, a framework that integrates psychological safety, institutional transparency, and user-centred design
to support Indonesia’s transition toward a safer, more reliable, and more trustworthy public transport ecosystem.
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