On February 1, 2004, a 12.9-km (8-mi) bus rapid transit (BRT) line began revenue operation in Jakarta, Indonesia. The BRT line has incorporated most of the characteristics of BRT systems. The line was implemented in only 9 months at a cost of less than US$1 million/km ($1.6 million/mi). Two additional lines are scheduled to begin operation in 2005 and triple the size of the BRT. While design shortcomings for the road surface and terminals have impaired performance of the system, public reaction has been positive. Travel time over the whole corridor has been reduced by 59 min at peak hour. Average ridership is about 49,000/day at a flat fare of 30 cents. Furthermore, 20% of BRT riders have switched from private motorized modes, and private bus operators have been supportive of expanding Jakarta's BRT. Immediate improvements are needed in the areas of fiscal handling of revenues and reconfiguring of other bus routes. The TransJakarta BRT is reducing transport emissions for Jakarta and providing an alternative to congested streets. The BRT provides a tangible vision for an effective, viable, and sustainable public transportation system in Jakarta and elsewhere.

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In the emerging economies of Asia, urban areas face a seemingly insurmountable challenge: the accommodation of rapid population growth while providing sufficient infrastructure to serve as hubs for the national economy competing in an increasingly global market. Transport infrastructure in such cities has typically been unable to keep up with freight and passenger traffic growth, as both national and local politicians have increasingly become enmeshed in a globalised vision of motorisation provided by the motor vehicle industry. Caught in this vision, despite its increasing unaffordability and some minimal opposition, cities in Asia have too often pursued road-building projects to service their development needs and relieve traffic congestion. This has resulted in a transport system catering to the needs of an affluent minority while reducing the public space available to the poorer majority. Aggravating the situation, past currency devaluation in the region has led to many governments providing fuel at subsidised costs with much of this subsidy being enjoyed by the transportation industry and middle/higher income groups. Within these developments has emerged a new conflict as the paradigm of sustainable development is increasingly promoted world-wide by international development agencies and national and city governments as a basis for future urban development. This paradigm focuses on environmental enhancement, poverty alleviation, equity improvement and good governance, providing a critical counter-voice to the vision of motorisation proponents. As a result of these parallel developments, we are now witnessing in Asia (and elsewhere), a collision of two globalised visions: motorisation and sustainable development. There is, consequently, an urgent need for the development of a new vision by (and for) the motor vehicle industry that assigns motorisation to a more constructive role in an integrated future for transport use and sustainable urban development, jointly arrived at by key stakeholders of development. It is the belief of the authors that this new vision can and will provide exciting new technological and commercial opportunities for the global transportation industry and urban inhabitants alike.

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