Socioeconomic Characteristics, Land Use, and Travel Patterns in Tokyo Metropolitan Area

摘要

The urban strcture of MA, for practical proposes, can be characterized as mono-centric. Therefore, the population and economic growth in the metropolitan area generate a corresponding increase in trip volumes from suburb to central Tokyo. Over the time, the concentration in the central Tokyo has further reinforced and other sub-urban centers are left far behind in competition. The huge traffic generated as a result has put a severe stress on the public transport system. As the road network in the Metropolitan Area is not adequate to meet the peak hour demand for road traffic, it is only the railway service, which the commuter can rely upon. But even with a very dense railway network and maximum possible train frequency, the congestion in the trains during peak hours is very severe. On the other hand, the forecasting of negative population growth in near future has made the railway companies hesitant to attempt capacity expansion. In addition such a demographic trend has posed a new challenge for public transport operators to cater an increasing number of aged passengers. Given the sheer size of Tokyo's population, an efficient mass transit system is indispensable to ensure smooth movement of people. And despite the overcrowding problem of peak hour trains and terminals, railway will continue to be the major mode of travel in TMA. It is expected that the government measures aimed at reducing the over-concentration in central Tokyo, will also work towards improving the traffic situation. In addition, government has emphasized the expansion of the capacity of road and railway infrastructure. For instance the master plan for urban railway (covering 1985-2000) in TMA proposes construction of 389 km new railway line and capacity expansion of existing lines in the Metropolitan Area. 157 km of new line is already opened for service and 267 km is under construction. Such addition of capacity is expected to give a relief to congestion. The next railway master plan for 2000-2015construction of various sections of the urban expressway network is underway. However, in recent years, these government initiatives to expand transport infrastructure facilities have confronted serious problems such as higher construction cost, difficulty in acquisition of right-of way, and citizen's resistance due to environmental impacts. Such constraints have, in turn, caused significant delay in project completion. The government has also offered various kinds of incentives to attract the private sector to make investments in transport infrastructure. Private railway companies have been major service providers for a long time. The government also made a special provision to allow railway companies to be involved in other business (such as land development and housing, department store, hotel, etc) that made it possible to capitalize on the external benefits of railway development. But now, private railways are not interested in expanding capacity to ease congestion. As a result, the government has made additional provisions of external subsidy and relaxation in fare regulation (railway company is allowed to have a fare raise of 10 % under the condition that the additional revenue so generated is used for capacity expansion). Similarly, government has recently allocated a fund (5 billion yen for 1999) to subside the installation cost of escalators and elevators in the railway terminals to serve the elderly population. In spite of poor service condition due to over crowding in urban trains, the railway system in TMA has been able to meet the high demand of travel. In a way the present state of the system is the outcome of a wide range of policy interventions in the past, among which, the following seem to be successful. 1. Establishment of hierarchy of railway networks, making it possible to match the train operation with trip characteristics. 2. Coordination among different railway companies to have direct train operation between subways and suburban lines. 3.