Japan's Urban Transportation System
Transportation 6 (1977) 171 189
© Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in the Netherlands
JAPAN'S URBAN TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEM
I N T HE MAJOR TRANSPORT S P H E R E S *
T OMOKI NOGUCHI
Urban Transportation Program, Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
ABSTRACT
T he urban areas in Japan have undergone rapid changes in the last two and one-half d ecades. At the same time, the urban transportation system has been faced with n umerous problems which need to be solved urgently. This paper presents the developm ent stage and problems in the three largest metropolitan areas, designated as transport s pheres, in Japan. Japan's problems in urban transportation are similar to those of most
W estern nations with regard to such issues as rapid urbanization, growth in travel, i ncreasing auto ownership, growing transit operating deficits, rising wages and air pollut ion. The differences are the large modal split of transit from automobile trips, major e xpansion of the rail transit network, and the large number of transit operators in each u rban area in Japan. In addition, governmental policies to help solve the urban transport p roblems are briefly described. In order to make the policies effective, coordination a mong government agencies is required. The establishment of a unified government a gency is regarded as the first priority in dealing with the urban transport problem. It is e xpected that the government will offer bold new countermeasures to cope with urban t ransportation problems.
I ntroduction
In the last two decades, Japan has achieved a remarkable economic r e c o v e r y a n d l~as e s t a b l i s h e d h e r p o s i t i o n in t h e w o r l d as o n e o f t h e m a j o r modem industrial societies. This rapid economic growth has caused a large shift of rural population to cities and the cities have grown rapidly with few controls. Land has become
© Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in the Netherlands
JAPAN'S URBAN TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEM
I N T HE MAJOR TRANSPORT S P H E R E S *
T OMOKI NOGUCHI
Urban Transportation Program, Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
ABSTRACT
T he urban areas in Japan have undergone rapid changes in the last two and one-half d ecades. At the same time, the urban transportation system has been faced with n umerous problems which need to be solved urgently. This paper presents the developm ent stage and problems in the three largest metropolitan areas, designated as transport s pheres, in Japan. Japan's problems in urban transportation are similar to those of most
W estern nations with regard to such issues as rapid urbanization, growth in travel, i ncreasing auto ownership, growing transit operating deficits, rising wages and air pollut ion. The differences are the large modal split of transit from automobile trips, major e xpansion of the rail transit network, and the large number of transit operators in each u rban area in Japan. In addition, governmental policies to help solve the urban transport p roblems are briefly described. In order to make the policies effective, coordination a mong government agencies is required. The establishment of a unified government a gency is regarded as the first priority in dealing with the urban transport problem. It is e xpected that the government will offer bold new countermeasures to cope with urban t ransportation problems.
I ntroduction
In the last two decades, Japan has achieved a remarkable economic r e c o v e r y a n d l~as e s t a b l i s h e d h e r p o s i t i o n in t h e w o r l d as o n e o f t h e m a j o r modem industrial societies. This rapid economic growth has caused a large shift of rural population to cities and the cities have grown rapidly with few controls. Land has become