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Populations in three major cities in Japan, i.e., Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka,
increased 12.5 per cent in the past five years and accounted for 39.5 per cent
of the total population in Japan at the end of fiscal 1973. The concentration
of socio-economic activities upon cities continued its high level and brought
about the lowering of transport efficiency and transport. services, thereby
incur ring various problems concerning public transport. On the other hand,
in sparsely-populated regions, it has become difficult to maintain public transport
system. (Fig.11)
1) Trafnc in Major Cities
In major cities capacities of roads became relatively insurficient for coping
with the increase in the number of motor vehicles owned, and the congestion
and snarl of roads became worse and worse every year. To solve this situation,
measures were taken to expand underground railways, to establish priority lanes
and exclusive lanes for buses and to intensify trafric rules, but the traffic
congestion was not yet solved and transport efficiency of surface public transport
systems such as buses and taxis showed allround declines. (Table12)(Fig.13)
In case of railways, difficulties in commuting and attending schools still
continue owing to increases in distances for commuting and attending school
and to congestion at rush hours when transport demands converge. To cope with
such difficulties, several measures have been taken--such as construction of
new lines and additional lines, mutual use of tracks by different railways companies
in order to secure direct transit and composing longer trains--so that load
factors have declined in nearly all lines except a part of underground railways.
Nevertheless, load factors in the most congested sections of many lines are
still exceeding 200 per cent.(Fig.14)
2） Transport in Sparse Regions
In sparse regions, the reduction of population and the wide use of privately
owned cars have caused a vicious circulation of "decline in the number of Passengers
- unprofitability of the line - lowering of the service - passengerd moving
to privately owned cars - decline in the number of passengers," which is now
threatening the very existence of public transport system such as local lines
of Japanese National Railways, local private railways, and buses and coaches.
As a means to secure transport system for regional inhabitants, aid measures
have been adopted--such as the deficit subsidy for maintaining such local lines.
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