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Despite efforts to increase the capacity of railway transportation, overcrowded
commuting during rush hours in the greater Tokyo area is still a serious problem
because of the extreme increase in the commuting population in the area. Moreover,
the complaints of commuters have escalated due to the increases in commuting
time and distance.
As it is deemed necessary to intensively promote off-peak commuting as well
as the improvement of railway transportation, the Ministry of Transport, with
the cooperation of the Labor Ministry, established the Council for Promotion
of Comfort in Commuting, which brings together specialists, researchers, and
representatives from the business and labor worlds, central government, local
communities and transport-related firms.
Its purpose is to pursue the implementation of off-peak commuting with the
comprehensive efforts of the Government. The group's first meeting was held
on 9 September 1993. In response to a suggestion made there, regarding the necessity
of taking concrete measures for each region separately because the nature of
congestion differs at each traffic terminal, local branches of the council will
be set up to carefully oversee the effort.
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