The Geometry of Delay: Assessing Route Tortuosity and Systemic Inefficiency in Jakarta's BRT Network

Jakarta, Indonesia, hosts the world’s longest Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, yet the network faces persistent challenges in temporal competitiveness. This study evaluates the spatiotemporal performance of this extensive network by analyzing the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data of 243 unique routes, encompassing both BRT trunk lines and "Mikrotrans" feeder layers. The proposed framework is designed for universal scalability, utilizing city-agnostic metrics derived from complex network graph modeling. The methodology calculates Betweenness Centrality for node importance, while the Tortuosity Index (τ) is employed to quantify spatial sinuosity, with specialized logic to account for high-circuity loop services. Operational efficiency is further assessed through advanced numerical evaluations, including a Time Penalty Ratio against an idealized urban speed baseline and a novel Operational Waste Index (OWI) that correlates route sinuosity with service frequency. The analysis reveals a near-perfect correlation (0.99) between route tortuosity and scheduled delays, suggesting that temporal performance is fundamentally embedded in geometric design. While the primary BRT corridors maintain linear efficiency, 43% of the network, predominantly feeder services, exhibits significant circuity (τ > 1.5). By identifying a critical subset of systemic bottlenecks where high network centrality coincides with excessive tortuosity and high node density, this study highlights a strategic trade-off between maximizing spatial coverage and maintaining operational speed. These insights provide a scalable, data-driven framework for "Strategic Straightening" and network restructuring in megacities seeking to optimize first/last-mile connectivity