Optimal Public Transportation Networks: Evidence from the World's Largest Bus Rapid Transit System in Jakarta

Financial support for this project came from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2049784, the International Growth Centre, the Harvard Asia Center, the Harvard Data Science Initiative, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through a grant to JPAL at MIT. TransJakarta provided in-kind support by providing administrative data. Gaduh and Kreindler are J-PAL affiliates. Gaduh was a JPAL Southeast Asia Research Fellow between August 2020 and May 2021. Hanna is on the executive committee of J-PAL at MIT. Olken is a director of J-PAL at MIT. J-PAL has no stake in the outcomes of any given evaluation results. However, J-PAL does have a position on what is considered a rigorous evaluation methodology. Olken and Hanna report that the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also provided overall support to JPAL Southeast Asia, and provides support for work on Social Protection, through grants to MIT and Harvard. Olken and Hanna are co Scientific Directors of JPAL Southeast Asia and co-director of JPAL’s Social Protection Initiative and receive summer salary support from these grants. Olken serves as the Editor of American Economic Journal: Applied Economics for the American Economic Association, and the Co-Director of the Development Economics Program for the National Bureau of Economic Research and receives compensation for both of these activities. Hanna serves as the Editor of the American Economic Review and receives compensation for this role. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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