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Business conditions in the transportation industry in fiscal 1976, on the whole, continued to improve (Figure 2-3-1). Contributing to the improvement were the revisions in some transport fares effective in and after fiscal 1974 as well as the facts that personnel expenses registered a slow down in its increase rate and that prices showed relatively stable movement. In some sectors of transport industries, however, the business conditions continue to inescapably remain under the expense, revenue equilibrium line. And even in the sectors where business conditions are favorable, the management has barely come out of the expense-revenue equilibrium level and has not yet recovered to the level before the beginning of the recession.
Japanese National Railways (JNR) had about Y910 billion in losses which is equivalent to the losses in the previous fiscal year. As for private railway corporations, business improved in nearly all of the major companies, and in medium and small companies in large cities, but continued to remain sluggish for local small companies and Metropolitan Rapid Transit Traffic Corporation. As for motor vehicles, business improved slightly for hire car and taxi companies, lorries of common carriers and lorries of chartered carriers companies enabling them to declare a profit. Operational conditions continued to remain difficult for both public and private bus companies, registering another red-ink-figure. Coastal shipping companies suffered from a deficit which was about the same amount as that of the previous fiscal year. Long-distance ferry companies continued to operate under severe conditions, though their deficits diminished. Aviation companies showed a steady increase in business accounts both in domestic route passenger transport (except the route to Okinawa) and international line transport. This increase in passengers on domestic routes was partly helped by the JNR fare increases which were effective in October, 1976, and which made rail fares more expensive than air flight charges. Thus, they improved remarkably in business accounts.
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