| Section4 ITS deployment progress in Japan |
Provision of public transport information |
- "Nakamura machi-bus" - Demand-responsive bus system
- User Services :13) Provision of public transport information
- Specific User Services :(40) Assistance for taxi and on demand bus use
With the growth of motor vehicle ownership, bus users in Nakamura City in Kochi Prefecture are decreasing year after year and now number as few as seven per day. The major reasons for this are long traveling time to the destination due to many detours and long waiting times.
In order to promote the use of buses, the operation of "Nakamura machi-bus," a demand-responsive bus system, using the grid road network in Nakamura City, which is called "little Kyoto" in the Tosa Region, was started: the experimental operation of this bus system lasted from 10 April to 30 June 2000, with service hours from 8:00 am to 18:00 pm. Users can make a reservation via phone, Internet or the information kiosk terminal, and the bus will come to the bus stop designated by them within 10 to 15 minutes. The number of bus stops was also increased from 28 to 57, to include the entrances of hospitals, which makes the service very convenient for passengers for hospitals, and the number of passengers increased to about 30 per day, four times that before the experimental operation.
Due to such success, the service hours were extended from 7:00 am to 19:00 pm from 1 July 2000.
(Planning Department of the Kochi Prefectural Government)
"Nakamura machi-bus" - demand-responsive bus system
On-bus equipment and information
terminal
Bus reservations using the information kiosk terminal
Provision of bus route/bus stop information via Internet
(web site screen)
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