TRAFFIC CONDITIONS AND TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IN JAPAN

The article discusses transport problems and some possible solutions. Statistics show that tokyo is one of the world's safest cities for pedestrians, and that drunken driving is rare in japan. The car is the source however of many other problems. Roadbuilding lags behind the increase in the number of cars on the roads. More parking spaces would not solve the problem of a building housing 13,000 workers; nor park-and-ride that of a town of 100,000. Tokyo's rail system carries 4.6 million commuters efficiently, but like freight new cut-and-cover tunnel would be too disruptive, deep tunnel expensive, while giving people long trips from platform to surface. Buses run at an average 12 kph; streetcars will be phased out by 1972. Bus services are being cut because of low patronage. There are some bus lanes, but other traffic intrudes, and they are not effective. Taxi companies are going bankrupt because of low fares. Possible planning solutions are to move people nearer their work, or to move them to suburbs served by new rail services. The author suggests that demand is for random short trips and for mass transit, and that the solution lies in providing for a combination of these, using the or hardware of transportation. software is new modes of operating buses, subways, etc., such as dial-a-ride. The hardware, being developed with help from the government and the auto industry, is prt and mini-tram systems. The author concludes by describing the government organization for transport planning. /TRRL/