Public reactions to the Jakarta MRT

The Jakarta MRT is the long-awaited public transport solution for Jakarta’s notorious traffic gridlock. Phase 1 took 5 years to build, and was officially launched on 24 March 2019. By May 2019, the system carries 70-80K passengers per day on weekdays, and 90K or more per day on weekends and holidays.

Cimigo spoke to 300 residents of Greater Jakarta in May 2019 to seek their opinions & experiences of the MRT.

The public has a positive view towards the MRT – it is seen as a great transport solution and a point of pride for Jakarta.

The cleanliness, punctuality & speed of the trains, were particular points that impressed riders, overall satisfaction with the MRT is high.

We found three main segments of MRT riders with distinct riding patterns:

Heavy Users (18% of riders) rely on the MRT for their daily transport for a wide range of purposes – they are most likely to find the MRT convenient.
Weekday Warriors (27% of riders) are weekday commuters who use the MRT to get to work or school.
Fun Seekers (55% of riders) mainly ride the MRT occasionally, mostly on weekends, for recreational purposes (“jalan-jalan”) – these are people who may ride the MRT for its novelty and to share their experience on social media.
The MRT line currently has limited coverage and lacks integration to other public transport systems. Ojek Online (“Ojol” or app-based motorcycle taxis) is currently a crucial first-mile and last-mile transport option for MRT riders.

Enthusiasm to try the MRT among non-riders is very high, setting an encouraging precedent for the service as it expands over the coming years.

Thu Phung - CTI Manager

"Cimigo is not the type of agency that "fill in the template", but it's customized as per the needs and expectations of Client. Cimigo makes research interesting by applying new approaches to address the business issue, for example, it's known by default that product test is CLT, but at Cimigo, we did group debate for deeper understandings and insights and that resulted as a winning product which is selling well in the market. Last but not least, Cimigo makes me understand that research is a journey, not just a project.""
“Cimigo is not the type of agency that "fill in the template", but it's customized as per the needs and expectations of Client. Cimigo makes research interesting by applying new approaches to address the business issue, for example, it's known by default that product test is CLT, but at Cimigo, we did group debate for deeper understandings and insights and that resulted as a winning product which is selling well in the market. Last but not least, Cimigo makes me understand that research is a journey, not just a project."”

Tania Desela - Senior Product Manager

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“It was a pleasure working with Cimigo. Their expertise in consumer and market research was a significant benefit as they assisted our organization in understanding our market position in more detail and validating our hypothesis in go-to-market strategy. We were more than happy with the findings and would definitely recommend them.”

Dennis Kurnia - Head of Consumer Insights

"Over the last 5 years I have worked with Cimigo on a wide array of projects, ranging from market segmentation to product testing. At all times, I found them to be swift in response and providing high quality insights and business recommendations applicable to our business. Furthermore, I am satisfied with their fieldwork quality despite the crunched timeline that we had in some projects. Overall, I highly recommend Cimigo for their professionalism."
“Over the last 5 years I have worked with Cimigo on a wide array of projects, ranging from market segmentation to product testing. At all times, I found them to be swift in response and providing high quality insights and business recommendations applicable to our business. Furthermore, I am satisfied with their fieldwork quality despite the crunched timeline that we had in some projects. Overall, I highly recommend Cimigo for their professionalism.”

Aimee Shear - Senior Research Executive

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“We partnered up with the Cimigo team on what was a particularly challenging project – we were faced with numerous timeline delays and logistical concerns – yet the team were incredibly accommodating through their patience, flexibility and commitment. Not only were the team supportive during the set up of our project, but we were really impressed by the outputs delivered – they were insightful, rich and very comprehensive. Cimigo were brilliant partners to work with and we look forward to working with them again. ”

Louise Knox - Consumer Technical Insights

"Just to say a huge thank you for all of the film footage. We are absolutely delighted with it all. The Vox Pops are really interesting and have turned out very well – those ladies were great at talking spontaneously. You did a great job. Thank you for your patience and perseverance with getting this off the ground."
“Just to say a huge thank you for all of the film footage. We are absolutely delighted with it all. The Vox Pops are really interesting and have turned out very well – those ladies were great at talking spontaneously. You did a great job. Thank you for your patience and perseverance with getting this off the ground.”

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“Through past 1 year working with Cimigo we can see the high dedication, good business sense and great client service from Cimigo client service team led by Ankur Sharan. Ankur's team always demonstrate a high standard of client service with high flexibility, trying to offer most convenient/ suitable options for clients although sometimes it is quite stretching for Cimigo team. Cimigo team also quite often offers very interesting approaches to solve our research objective, I personally appreciate the fact that the team can go extra miles trying to find out good methodology, insightful findings to answer MSD's business questions.”

Richard Willis - Director

"HSBC are very pleased with the launch and they have had some very good coverage which I have attached. Your team have done an excellent job on this."
“HSBC are very pleased with the launch and they have had some very good coverage which I have attached. Your team have done an excellent job on this.”

Geert Heestermans - Marketing Director

"Cimigo is and will be our strategic research agency. We are happy with your work and the way our projects are handled. You walked the extra mile and we are grateful for that Cimigo is and will be our strategic research agency. We are happy with your work and the way our projects are handled. You walked the extra mile and we are grateful for that"
“Cimigo is and will be our strategic research agency. We are happy with your work and the way our projects are handled. You walked the extra mile and we are grateful for that Cimigo is and will be our strategic research agency. We are happy with your work and the way our projects are handled. You walked the extra mile and we are grateful for that”

CMI Manager - Shiseido Asia Pacific

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“We have worked with CIMIGO over 2 projects in Vietnam. Thuong and her team has proven to be reliable being on top of the projects, managing different stakeholders and business objectives. They are flexible in terms of ways of working and are able to cope with last minute changes. The research findings (Quant + Qual) have helped us understand Vietnamese in a deeper level, allowing us to make clear decisions to be successful in the market. Thank you Thuong, Nhu Tran and team for supporting us.”