Analysis of Key Factors and Characteristics of Maritime Transportation Users of the Dharma Rucitra VII Ship Maumere-Surabaya Route

Abstract

East Nusa Tenggara Province has a fairly large area consisting of many small islands, one of which is Maumere City. Maumere City is a center of activity in government, trade, distribution of goods (logistics), and others. The importance of sea transportation can support the activities of people in Maumere in traveling outside the region, both within the NTT Province area, and to other provinces. One of the ships owned by PT. Dharma Lautan Utama operating in Maumere is the Dharma Rucitra VII Ship. According to the results of the study, the main factors such as price aspects, safety aspects, comfort aspects, departure schedule aspects have a significant influence on the decision of users to use the Dharma Rucitra VII Ship despite having limitations in terms of travel time speed. And for the individual characteristics of the Dharma Rucitra VII ship users are young, unmarried, highly educated but low-income individuals with more temporary or recreational travel purposes. The sea transportation mode was chosen because of its economical characteristics. These results are in line with theories of transportation and individual mobility that emphasize the importance of socio-economic variables in the formation of mode preferences. Overall, the results of this study provide an important contribution to understanding the main factors that influence users to use sea transportation in the Maumere area of ​​Sikka Regency, and can be used as a basis for consideration for ship operators to design service strategies that are more responsive to user needs.