The second ERIA working group meeting for the Study on Energy Efficiency Improvement in the Transport Sector through Transport Improvement and Smart Community Development in the Urban Area was held in Da Nang, Viet Nam, on 12 February 2015.

Researchers from the Institute of Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ) presented preliminary findings on key concepts in policy design toward avoiding increases in transport demand in high population density and compact cities. Case studies on Moscow, Los Angeles, Guangzhou, Rome, Copenhagen, and Zurich were presented to support the findings. IEEJ will continue to identify key lessons from these examples and develop a set of urban transport policies to address different issues during different stages of a city's development. The recommendations will be useful for developing cities in ASEAN countries.

Toyota presented a study on the development of a designing method of feeder bus networks with BRT in an urban context, with an application to Da Nang. A participant from Viet Nam's transport ministry said that the simulation model could be more practical if travel time and system cost could be optimized.

A representative from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Sub-Sector Network (EE&C-SSN) gave a presentation on their activities for ASEAN countries and explained their aim to expand activities in the transport sector.

Working group members from Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia), National University of Civil Engineering (Viet Nam), Clean Air Asia and ERIA provided informative and insightful comments on the research presented.

The working group meeting was followed by site visits to several JICA projects in Da Nang that are helping to modernize the city's road and traffic system.