 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Taking into consideration the questions facing Japan's current transport system, the thinking behind future transport policy in each sector and fundamental objectives of that policy will be established as follows. |
 |
| Approximately twenty years ago, in this
Council's 6th report, in the section entitled "Fundamental Directions
in General Transport Policy based upon Long-Term Projections" it was
stated that "the objective of research into transport policy is to
help achieve the smooth mobility of people and cargo, thereby contributing
to the nation's economic development and the improvement of the lifestyle
of its citizens". In those days too, people were concerned about such issues as creating the foundation for comfortable local societies and preservation of the environment, so the expression "achieving" mobility is a reflection of the times, indicating that in the transition from rapid to stable economic growth, steady increases in demand were forecast for transport services and achieving this was still a prime concern. However, these days, with the increasing number of elderly people and the decreasing proportion of the population made up of young people, in addition to not being able to expect increases in demand for transport services, as covered in Chapter 1., apart from in the main urban centers, the bottlenecks are being overcome. In this context, the demands on transport policies are changing rapidly. That is to say, the emphasis placed on securing the capability of transport has diminished in importance, and in contrast, aspects of the quality of transport such as comfort, efficiency issues, harmony with the environment and improvements in safety have increased greatly in importance. Furthermore, as our economy undergoes major changes, we need to pay attention to the effects that changes in transport have on other sectors of the economy. For example, by making it easier for the elderly to be mobile they will increase their range of activity outside their homes, thereby maintaining and improving their mental and physical well being. This reduces the burden on the country's nursing homes and hospitals and with this kind of aspects in mind, significance of transport needs to be reassessed. It is important for us to appreciate that improvements in the traffic situation will affect the social condition as well as economy and this in turn will be linked to further changes in demand for transport, so it is insufficient for us to passively see transport as merely meeting the needs of shifting demand in the economy. For these reasons, in the early years of the 21st century, while we must continue to "achieve mobility", we need to develop policies which place greater emphasis on improving the quality of our transport services taking into consideration the impact transport has on the economy as well as looking to make positive contributions to policy in other fields beyond transport itself. This way of thinking allows us to propose a new fundamental objective for transport policy to "both cope with changes in the economy as well as facilitating mobility that leads to change". Based on this new fundamental objective, in order to help build a new and vibrant Japanese society, transport authorities must boldly move to deal with the various issues facing their sector. |
 |
Examples of changes in transport impacting upon other sectors of the economy |
| Transport becoming
user-friendly for all --»Reduction in the burden for society in the medical and nursing care areas. Providing swift home delivery service --»Growth of internet-based sales |
 |
 |
PREVIOUS |
 |
TOP |
 |