In a push to transform urban transportation across Greater Santo Domingo, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has deepened its collaborative ties with local Dominican institutions, centering its work on boosting traffic management capabilities, advancing digital transport innovation, upgrading road infrastructure, and building a transport system that is safer, more efficient, widely accessible, and environmentally sustainable.
The partnership launched in 2025 as a three-year technical cooperation initiative, carried out jointly with the Dominican Republic’s National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant), with a core focus on modernizing urban mobility through intelligent transport systems.
One of the most critical pillars of this project is the creation of a comprehensive master plan for intelligent transportation systems (ITS). This strategic framework is designed to unlock the full potential of digital technology and real-time data to streamline day-to-day traffic management and deliver data-backed insights for long-term transportation decision-making. Beyond planning, the initiative includes hands-on capacity building for local technical teams, on-the-ground testing of innovative pilot programs, and the development of interactive digital monitoring dashboards. These tools will enable transport officials to track live traffic conditions, pinpoint bottlenecks, and design targeted interventions to cut down on persistent gridlock across the metropolitan area.
Inclusivity is also a central priority of the partnership. JICA is actively advocating for the integration of universal design principles into all urban mobility planning efforts, a change that will significantly improve access to public and private transport for people living with disabilities and senior residents who have long faced barriers to movement across the city.
The collaboration extends beyond digital traffic solutions to address long-standing gaps in physical infrastructure, with a specific focus on the region’s bridge network. JICA is providing technical and financial support for feasibility studies for proposed new bridge construction projects that are expected to drastically cut congestion by distributing road traffic more evenly across the metropolitan area. Alongside new developments, the agency has also scheduled comprehensive structural assessments for dozens of existing bridges, including several that have been flagged as being in critical structural condition.
These assessment projects will not only evaluate immediate needs for maintenance, structural reinforcement, and seismic retrofitting to improve the infrastructure’s resilience against natural disasters, but also include specialized training for local engineering and infrastructure management teams. This capacity building is designed to equip Dominican professionals with the skills needed to manage and maintain critical transport infrastructure independently over the long term.
Kota Sakaguchi, JICA’s Resident Representative in the Dominican Republic, outlined the core goals of the multifaceted partnership, noting that all initiatives are aligned to cut chronic congestion, elevate road safety standards for all road users, expand accessible transport options for marginalized groups, and strengthen the country’s capacity to manage urban infrastructure. He added that the cooperation goes beyond addressing immediate transport challenges that currently disrupt daily life in Greater Santo Domingo, with a long-term vision of building a more inclusive, climate-resilient metropolitan region that is fully prepared to meet evolving mobility demands in the decades ahead.