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Japan highly depends on oil. Moreover, it imports almost all of the oil
it consumes. Accordingly, this nation stands to be directly affected by any
disequilibrium in the supply-demand situation for energy in the world. In order
to ensure a stable growth of its economy and improvement in the life of the
people, Japan has to secure stable supply of energy sources and promote development
and importation of non-oil energy sources. At the same time, it has to restructure
its society Into an energy-saving type.
Except railways which use much electric power, the transport sector of the
national economy highly depends on oil because it uses oil directly as fuel.
Moreover, in the transport sector, it is very difficult to switch from oil to
any other energy source, and no major drop in its dependence on oil is foreseen.
Therefore, it is an important policy task for transportation administration
to ensure oil for the transport sector which is the basis for the daily life
of the people and the economic activities of the nation.
The transport sector consumes large amounts of light-quality oil, such as
gasoline and light oil. Because demand for light-quality oil is expected to
continue increasing throughout the world, shortages of such oil may arise in
the near future. Given such an outlook, it may become difficult to ensure enough
mobility of people and goods. In the transport sector, further efforts should
be made to save energy.
(1) Need of Switching to Energy-Saving Type
To save energy, the transport sector should take a two-pronged approach :
to take measures to save energy in each transport system on one side and to
establish a transport system which is efficient in terms of energy consumption
rate on the other. However, energy-saving efforts for each transport system
have their limits. Inasmuch as transport demand is expected to grow considerably
hereafter, emphasis should be placed on efforts to restructure the overall transport
system into an energy-saving type centering on the use of means of conveyance
which are efficient in terms of energy consumption rate in order to promote
energy conservation while ensuring smooth mobility of people and goods.
If in the field of transportation, only measures to keep up with the growing
transport demand are taken, it will become gradually difficult to ensure enough
mobility of people and goods when the energy necessary for transportation runs
short and the cost of energy, i.e., the cost of mobility, rises. Efforts should
be made to expand and improve means of conveyance which are efficient in terms
of energy consumption rate and Induce transport demand to such means of conveyance
and thereby build a transport system whose energy efficiency is high, restructure
the energy consumption pattern in the transportation sector into an energy-saving
type and ensure smooth mobility of people and goods despite the growing shortages
of energy.
In taking measures to lead transportation demand to energy-saving means of
transport, it should be remembered that suppliers of transport services will
not always be able to readily cope with any sudden change in the pattern of
transportation demand. Construction of any public transport system requires
enormous sum of investment and takes a lot of time for the completion of its
infrastructure. To procure transportation machinery, such as vehicles, and secure
manpower, time-consuming efforts are also necessary. A plan with a long-range
vision should be quickly formulated for the completion of an energy-efficient
transport system.
In making efforts to lead the transportation demand to means of conveyance which
excel in energy efficiency, attention should be given to the peculiarities of
different fields of transport, such as city transport, local transport and inter-regional
transport, and measures should be taken to cope with the growing restrictions
from environment and space and one should clearly grasp where a given form of
transportation can be replaced by another.
Such things considered, it is desirable to lead the transportation demand
to energy-efficient public means of transport in areas where there is a considerable
size of transportation demand of a fixed pattern, such as urban passenger transport,
particularly transport of commuters. For this end, services in public transport
should be improved and expanded.
In areas where private motor vehicles can perform an important role, such
as moving about in cities on business and transportation in sparsely populated
districts, the role of private cars will continue to be great in the future.
In the field of inter-regional passenger transport, aircraft is not a particularly
efficient means of transport from the viewpoint of energy consumption. Efficient
use of railways should be attempted where the time used in transport by aircraft
does not differ much from railways and the benefit derived from the use of aircraft
is relatively small. However, the weight of aircraft in the nation's total energy
consumption is small. When it is considered that with a further progress in
the socioeconomic aspect of this nation, the frequency of travel will Increase
and that with the increase in the value of time for the economic activities
of the nation and the life of the people, demand for faster transportation will
inevitably arise. Air transport should be made available and expanded in areas
where aircraft can best display their superiority, such as between points separated
by mountains or the sea.
Freight transport is an area where there has been specialization among different
modes of transportation according to different requirements for capacity, maneuverability
and punctuality. Basically, however, efforts to encourage the use of means of
mass transport should be made where there is a justifiably large transportation
demand. Attention should also be given to the utilization of shipping and freight
liners in the transport of miscellaneous goods and to the use of railways in
mass transport of cargo of fixed size and shape, such as item-by-item specialized
transport. Regarding trucks, trucking is depended on in terminal cargo transport
and it is difficult to replace trucks with some other means of conveyance. Even
in inter-regional transportation, trucks are also much used for the transport
of cargo where promptness, maneuverability and readiness are important. In such
areas of transportation, the efficiency of trucking services should be promoted
further by pushing cargo consolidation for joint transport in trucks of different
carriers and ensuring return-trip cargo.
Against the background of the growing limitations on energy supplies, the
transport sector also should do its utmost to bring into being a transport system
of energy-saving type. The stronger the limitations on the availability of energy
becomes, the greater the need to choose a means of transport which excels in
energy efficiency and the necessity of using mass public transport systems for
ensuring mobility.
(2) Expansion and Improvement of Public Transport Systems
a) Passenger Transport
In the transportation of passengers in cities, particularly the transportation
of commuters, it is desirable to lead the demand to means of conveyance which
excel in energy efficiency. This requires expansion and improvement of public
transportation services.
To improve passenger transport services in cities, the Ministry of Transport
is promoting such things as expansion of transport capacity during the rush
hours, air-conditioning of railway vehicles and rescheduling of train operations.
In the field of bus transport, the ministry is carrying out such projects as
installing bus location systems (systems to indicate approach of a bus), building
roofs on bus stops, encouraging the use of buses with low floors, wide doors
and air-conditioned interior spaces and reorganizing bus route networks to make
buses a more convenient means of conveyance. Regarding transportation facilities,
the ministry over the years has been promoting construction of underground railways
and "new town" railways, expansion and improvement of the ' Japanese National
Railways' traffic facilities in large cities, construction of facilities for
bus services in cities such as bus terminals. The ministry intends to continue
such efforts to Improve the overland public transport systems.
b) Freight Transport
In inter-regional freight transport, the proportion of miscellaneous goods
is expected to increase hereafter as a result of an increase in movements of
goods on arterial traffic lines and the diversification and sophitication of
the users' needs.
As regards railways, efforts to improve the efficiency of JNR freight transportation
should be made. In such efforts, studies should be undertaken to restructure
transportation networks, such as the network of freight liner services, and
work out attractive operation schedules in order to better meet the needs of
the users.
In the trucking field, the efficiency of transportation should be improved
by expanding and improving the system to ensure return-trip cargo and integrated
transportation, linking railway services and marine transportation.
To study the feasibility of promoting the utilization of sea lanes which
are considered advantageous in terms of energy efficiency, labor efficiency
and environment protection, the Ministry of Transport since fiscal 1978 has
been examining the realities and problems in coastal shipping in order to better
understand the needs of shippers on coastal shipping, especially for the transport
of miscellaneous goods, and to improve and expand the coastal shipping systems.
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