In Japan, the long-distance transportation of the produces from farms, the marine products from fish ports and the industrial products from factories are efficiently achieved by the combination of railroads, highways, airways and/or seaways. Also, an innovative parcel home-delivery services that have been initiated by a small transportation company are rapidly spreading through all over Japan with the collaboration of street-side convenience stores. These modal shifts from the government-operated inefficient postal services dramatically improve the convenience, punctuality and cost for all citizens. However, road congestions in urban areas like metropolitan Tokyo are reaching an intolerable level, and some concrete measures are required to alleviate the problem. To solve this problem, an alternative and innovative transportation technology --Pneumatic Capsule Pipeline-- has been proposed and evaluated for use in many European and USA cities. Last year, Dr. Henry Liu, President of Freight Pipeline Co., and the former Director of Capsule Pipeline Research Center, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA, completed a study showing the cost-effective potential use of PCPs in New York City.［１］ Also, Dr. Sanai Kosugi of Sumitomo Metal Ind., Tokyo, a pioneer in using PCPs for transporting limestone, construction materials and solid wastes in Japan, was considering potential use of PCP in Tokyo.(Unfortunately, before completing his work, he deceased last October due to cancer.) Two of the most important factors in PCP in urban areas are the pipeline route selection, and the construction time and the cost-effectiveness of pipeline installation. These are closely related upon with many modern construction technologies, such as the trenchless technology. This paper discussed and proposed the cost and technical optimizations of PCPs by utilizing the underground or aboveground space of the public domain such as ultra-deep underground, railroads, elevated toll roads, river banks and waterways. This paper also reviews two unique ultra-long distance trenchless methods most suitable for PCP in urban areas, which have been recently developed by a Japanese construction company.
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