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Transportation is the fundamental foundation for the people's livelihood and socio-economic activities. We must appropriately adapt the transportation sector to the new era of the 21st century from the new viewpoints including the comprehensive transportation policy development and the construction of coordinated, efficient transportation infrastructure.
The demand/supply adjustment regulations are expected to
impede in response to diversified needs and ensure efficient business management,
while Japan amid the economic recession is required to fundamentally reform
its entire economic and social systems. Therefore, the government in December
1996 devised a plan to abolish the demand/ supply adjustment regulations in
principle. In order to allow transportation to be revitalized and developed
under the principles of market forces and self-responsibility, we must improve
market conditions as described below in order to take full advantage of the
deregulation for promoting competition between businesses:
(1) Development of Comprehensive Transportation Infrastructure
Transportation infrastructure including railways, airports and ports and
harbors is the foundation for people to benefit from transportation services.
Massive investment is required to develop such infrastructure, and given that
much time is required for this investment to be recovered, the private sector
alone has difficulties undertaking such an investment. Therefore, the government
must take the leading role in and support the development of the transportation
infrastructure. In this respect, consideration must be given to the following
points :
| ① Coordination of positions for transportation
infrastructure components in planning infrastructure construction projects. ② Systematic links between transportation modes, including integrated development of airports, ports and harbors plus railways as the access to such facilities. ③ In order to ensure the efficient, effective implementation of projects, efforts must be made to concentrate investment in priority areas, increase the investment efficiency, implement comprehensive, systematic assessment of projects upon their adoption, including the cost benefit analysis, reassess projects after their adoption and lower construction costs. ④ The private finance initiative should be introduced to take advantage of private-sector financial resources and technologies. ⑤ Ensuring harmonization between hardware and software to have transportation services meet people's needs. ⑥Transportation infrastructure development, coupled with other social capital development, should contribute to the comprehensive, systematic development and utilization of national land. |
(2) Creative Services Meeting New Needs
In order to contribute to businesses' creation of new services, the government
should offer information on changes in social needs, deregulation and other
matters and support the development of new technologies.
(3) Laying the Groundwork for Promotion of Fair Competition
In order to take full advantage of market forces, the government, while
considering the characteristics of markets, must lay the groundwork for promoting
competition through international negotiations on fair competition in the aviation
and shipping sectors, international standardization of equipment and instruments,
and establishment of airport slot allocation rules.
(1) Ensuring Smooth Transportation in Overcrowded and Depopulated
Regions
In overcrowded regions, the government must promote the improvement of the
environment for driving automobiles, the use of public transportation means,
the relaxation of rush hour congestion and other transportation-related measures
in terms of both hardware and software, while considering these measures' close
relationship with other urban policy measures. In order to ensure bus and other
lifeline transportation services for remote islands and other depopulated regions,
the government must appropriately share the burden and cooperate with local
governments and other organizations in providing various kinds of assistance
to them for improving the efficiency of transportation services. In this way,
the government may be able to ensure smooth transportation in both overcrowded
and depopulated regions.
(2) Ensuring Reliable Transportation Services
The government must closely watch and appropriately respond to any deterioration
in quality of transportation services, sharp fare hikes and other problems emerging
as market forces intensify competition. It must also promote the disclosure
of relevant information to prevent people's confusion resulting from the diversification
of transportation services.
(3) Improved Links between Transportation Modes
In order to ensure the continuity and better convenience of transportation
means, the government must either develop or improve links between transportation
modes, including a railway access to airport terminals. It must also develop
and deploy the intelligent transportation system and the traffic demand management
to ensure comprehensive transportation services including private means.
(4) Measures for Small and Medium Businesses and Employment Security in Transportation
In order to ease the impact of the abolition of demand/supply adjustment
regulations on small and medium businesses, the government must allow them to
receive public loans, credit insurance, special tax breaks and other benefits.
To secure employment, the government must also make employment insurance and
other assistance available.
(5) Ensuring Safe, Disaster-Proof Transportation
The government must take measures to ensure safety as the most fundamental
policy goal for transportation. It must also ensure transportation networks
even amid disasters by improving facilities' resistance to earthquakes and by
readying alternative transportation means.
(6) Realizing Transportation That Can Coexist with the Environment and Is User-friendly
In order to appropriately address the important issue of global warming,
the transportation sector must step up the development and diffusion of low-emission
vehicles, and ensure a shift to public transportation means and other measures
in order to build up a transportation system that is environmentally friendly.
As Japan's society ages with disabled persons increasingly participating in
social activities, the sector must also pro-mote efforts to remove hardware
and software barriers to aged and disabled persons in transportation.
(7) Paving the Way for Research, Development and Introduction of Advanced Technologies
The government must play either a leading role or shared role in the standardization
of equipment and instruments, development of transportation systems assisting
disabled persons, and other projects to take advantage of remarkable advances
in information and communication technologies for advanced, efficient transportation
services.
(8) Laying the Groundwork for Expansion of Personnel Exchanges
The government must initiate and support cooperation between relevant people
for further expansion of personnel exchanges to promote overseas advertisement
of Japan's tourism, development of a comprehensive tourism information system,
construction of attractive towns for residents and visitors, cooperation between
resorts, fair tourism transactions and other measures.
(9) Development of Urban Public Transit Systems
In order to contribute to revitalizing cities through increasing the efficiency
of the flow of people through urban areas as well as between urban and other
areas, the central government must cooperate with local governments and businesses
to comprehensively promote the improvement of people's convenience at each public
transportation system and improvement of links between different transportation
modes at terminals along with relevant urban development projects. In this respect,
Japan since July 1998 has enforced the Law on Improvement and Vitalization in
City Center
The transportation sector, in order to provide safe, smooth and efficient
services, must take advantage of market forces to improve services in view of
people's needs and business efficiency. The transportation administration for
its part must play the leading role in laying the groundwork for such private-sector
efforts and tackling problems that market forces cannot solve.
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