New developments in urban transport in Indonesia promise to counter the trend of increasing greenhouse gas emissions in this sector. Jakarta's nascent bus rapid transit (BRT) system is resulting in the re-allocation of scarce road space in the center of the city to efficient public transportation and has resulted in a shift of trips from private motor vehicles. Jakarta and other Indonesia cities also have worked to improve pedestrian facilities to increase the number of walking trips, important to the development of public transport. The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and its partners, which have thus far provided technical support for the Jakarta BRT, are working to develop a longer-term technical support system to help bring BRT and pedestrian improvements in Indonesia up to international state-of-the-art standards.

The overall objective of this project is to maximize effectiveness of the Jakarta BRT and use it as a catalyst for urban transport reform in Jakarta and other key Indonesian cities. Jakarta is at a crossroads: it has constructed several corridors of BRT, but those corridors are underperforming and the system is in need of optimization in order to reach its potential to provide large transport and environmental benefits to its populace and serve as a beacon for other cities in the country and region. Failure to improve the BRT could diminish the promise for development of other systems in the region. Thus the first eight (of nine) specific objectives in this project focus on ensuring the success of this system, through its optimized implementation and expansion to a full system of 14 corridors, covering most of the city. Objective 9 focuses on dissemination activities, in particular assisting other Indonesian cities in establishing sustainable transport programs and transferring knowledge and other achievements gained in the Jakarta aspects of the project.

Apart from BRT, the project explicitly supports the development of non-motorized transportation (NMT) systems and infrastructure, transit oriented development and transportation demand management to reduce use of private motor vehicles. Improvements in these areas will provide critical complements to BRT development, and together form the tools to achieve a long-term, sustainable shift to less greenhouse gas emitting forms of transportation.