Abstract: Transportation plays an important role in connectivity, facilitating mobility, and increasing
the social/economic progress of society, so transportation is an essential part of human life. However,
not all levels of society get equal transport affordability, especially for socially disadvantaged groups
(low income, no job, low skills, ill-health, poor housing). People disadvantaged by the absence of
transport affordability will find it challenging to access essential goods and activities (work, health
facilities, education, socialization), thus leading to transport poverty. This condition can happen when
marginalized people live far from urban centres with poor public transport facilities due to lower
purchasing power. These conditions force them to incur higher transportation costs to access urban
centres. Policy implementation from stakeholders is needed to address the problem of transport
poverty and increase transport affordability for disadvantaged communities. This research is a
comparative study of public policies on public transportation subsidies in Indonesia. The research data
comes from regulations and work programs related to public transportation subsidies in various cities
in Indonesia (Jakarta, Surabaya, Palembang, etc.) and abroad (London, Paris, San Fransisco, etc.). The
research used a descriptive-analysis approach to explore and describe various data sources. The
preliminary result obtained in this study is the uneven distribution of policies and implementation of
policies related to public transport subsidies in various cities in Indonesia. Moreover, mostly in
developed countries, there are more programs related to public transportation subsidies, although no
regulations govern these programs. The results of this study can be expected to be considered by
stakeholders to design and implement policies that can equalize transport affordability for all levels
of society.