[sustran] Re: Review of BRT experience in Asia

[John Ernst]

Dear Cornie,

Please accept my apologies for a slow response as I have been on a mission 
in Indonesia.  I can give you a quick update of BRT activities there.

I wrote a brief summary of the Jakarta BRT system for the Transportation 
Research Board last month.  I will send this to you "off list" as these 
lists are not meant to carry attached files.  The report was accurate as of 
August, 2004.

The Jakarta busway system is planned to expand to roughly 14 corridors in 
Jakarta.  Corridor 2 & 3 began construction last year, though this has 
recently been suspended -- perhaps for a few months -- while they are 
waiting for the 2005 budget allocation to come through.

There is a TransJakarta agency which oversees operations.  However, 
planning and construction of the system are still under control of the 
DKI-Jakarta government, primarily implemented through the transportation 
and public works agencies.  I would suggest contacting City Secretary 
Ritola for further information.  I will send you his contact information.

Jakarta maintains a website for TransJakarta,  however the last I checked 
this was in Indonesian only.  An NGO we work closely with in Indonesia, 
Instrans, has some video footage of the busway, but it is fairly basic. 
They can be contacted at <instran_jkt at yahoo.com>.

In addition to Jakarta, the City of Yogyakarta is planning a demonstration 
busway project that has some of the elements of BRT -- primarily platforms 
in the center of the road.  This is still in the early planning 
stages.  For further information, I would suggest contacting Dr. Heru 
Sutomo at Gadjah Mada University <hsutomo at mstt.ugm.ac.id>.

Very glad to hear that Manila is considering BRT.  Good luck with the meeting.

Best regards,
John Ernst

At 02:50 AM 2/11/2005, aables at adb.org wrote:

>Dear Colleagues,
>
>One of the aims of Partnership for Sustainable UrbanTransport in Asia 
>(PSUTA) as a pilot project of Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities 
>(CAI-Asia) is to broaden our knowledge base with respect to sustainable 
>transport and promote technologies where applicable. In this regard, 
>CAI-Asia presented "Bus Rapid Transit: A Win-Win Solution for Mass 
>Transport in Manila" in a focused group discussion (FGD) at the Land 
>Transportation Office in Manila that was attended by representatives from 
>government agencies, research institutes, and advocacy groups 
>(Metropolitan Manila Development Authority [MMDA], Land Transportation 
>Office [LTO], Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board [LTFRB], 
>Environmental Management Bureau of Department of Environment and Natural 
>Resources [DENR-EMB], University of the Philippines National Center for 
>Transportation Studies [UP-NCTS] and Partnership for Clean Air [PCA]). The 
>FGD concluded that BRT is a vi! able option in addressing transport 
>problems in Manila without sacrificing air quality and costs.
>
>To further lobby BRT and as follow up to the FGD, the group recommended 
>that a similar presentation be given before the Metro Manila Council (MMC) 
>meeting that is scheduled next week, 17 Feb 2005 10:30h at the MMDA 
>office. The MMC meeting gathers city mayors and representatives from the 
>Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of 
>Transportation and Communications (DOTC)  to tackle urban planning and 
>development. To prepare for this, CAI-Asia is gathering information to 
>come up with a review on bus rapid transit (BRT) experience in Asia.
>
>We would greatly appreciate if you could give us information on BRT 
>developments in Asia, successful or otherwise, or give us contact 
>information of those who do, preferably by 15 Feb 2004 (Tuesday). We are 
>interested in hearing which cities are implementing BRT schemes or which 
>cities are planning to do so.  It would be good to know how comprehensive 
>the schemes are, whether there is documentation available and who are the 
>contact persons.
>
>As video clips (preferably in English) would make a stronger impression to 
>the audience, kindly courier them to us or direct us to webpages where 
>these are available.
>
>We look forward to your favorable response. Thank you.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Cornie Huizenga
>Head of Secretariat
>Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia)
>Asian Development Bank
>Phone         ++ 632 632 5047
>Fax         ++ 632 636 2198
>chuizenga at adb.org
>PO Box 789
>0980 Manila
>
>http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia
>
>
>================================================================
>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, 
>equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries 
>(the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus 
>is on urban transport policy in Asia.

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John Ernst   -  Director, Asia Region
    ITDP - The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Subscribe to ITDP's Sustainable Transport e-update at www.itdp.org
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