Go Jek -- An App to defeat traffic in Jakarta

Uber is great; so is Lyft. But what if traffic is so bad, an entire city is nearly gridlocked? In Jakarta, there is an app with a solution to this problem. While motorcycle taxis, known locally as ojek, have long been a popular form of transport in Jakarta, Go-Jek is the first attempt to introduce a hi-tech booking system and guaranteed service standards. Outside of Go-Jek, ojek riders congregate on street corners, and are not officially registered. Payments have to be made in cash, and prices are a matter of negotiation. By contract, Go-Jek recruits and trains its staff, who get uniforms, helmets, and a smart phone on which they manage their pick ups.

The brainchild of 30-year-old Indonesian entrepreneur Nadiem Makarim, the Go-Jek app has been downloaded more than 500,000 times since the service launched in Jakarta at the start of this year. He also decided that passengers would like to see an increased level of trust and accountability. Therefore the app allows customers to see the distance to their destination, and calculate the exact cost of the journey. For each kilometre (0.6 miles) travelled with Go-Jek, customers are charged 4,000 rupiah (29 cents; 20p).