Japan is world leader, in terms of economic power. However, this position
of leadership is not reflected in the quality of life of the individual Japanese,
and the country is not a world leader in terms of quality of life.
Transport is one particularly troublesome area. The problems have mounted
up - a worsening of road congestion, an increase in the number of road accidents,
a negative impact on the world environment, pollution, and chronic crowding
for commuters going to work and school - and urgent solutions are required in
order to develop economy and quality life.
Japanese people's awareness, on the other hand has changed . Values continue
to diversify and people are demanding a freer and more individualistic way of
life. The transport industry needs to keep up with this, to absorb the changing
needs of users and to provide a diverse range of high quality, comfortable services.
Today even ordinary people's lives are becoming internationalized rapidly, and
there are additional demands for the development of international transportation.
Transport policy in the 1990s - as a lead-up period to the 2lst century
- needs to aim at restructuring the transport system so that it offers real
quality, and place a new spotlight onto the role of the public transport sector.
In Part I of this publication, the direction in which future transport policy
should be developed is considered, keeping these problems in mind, based on
reports tabled by the Council for Transport Policy between December 1990 and
June 1991.
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