日本唯一の「ガイドウェイバス」が大混雑　開業時は1日5000人だった利用者は1万2000人に　増便したくても簡単にできない事情も

The Yutorito Line, a bus service connecting Ozone in Nagoya City with Kozoji in Kasugai City, Aichi Prefecture, opened in March 2001. The line is the only "guideway bus" in Japan that runs on both a dedicated elevated rail system and regular roads, making it unaffected by traffic congestion. It's named "Yutorito Line." However... (High school student) "It's incredibly crowded every morning." At Kanaya Station in Moriyama Ward, Nagoya City, the buses were packed to capacity just before 8:00 AM on the 21st, during the peak commute. Buses arrive every two minutes, but... (High school student) "(Q: I didn't ride, but is this common?) Yes, it's packed..." (Man in his 80s) "They delay about two trains, but don't push it too hard. There weren't many people when it first opened." The reason for this is the explosive population growth in Moriyama Ward. Land development has been taking place in Moriyama Ward's Shidami district, where the Yutorito Line began operating in 2001. The population was approximately 16,000, but by December of last year, it had more than doubled to approximately 39,000. The reasons why increasing service frequency is not possible even though ridership has more than doubled since the line opened... Furthermore, Moriyama Ward's total population of approximately 176,120 is the third-largest of Nagoya's 16 wards, after Midori and Nakagawa. This represents a 5% increase over the past 10 years. As a result, the number of Yutorito Line riders has more than doubled from approximately 5,000 per day at the time of line opening to approximately 12,000 today. While increasing service frequency has, of course, been discussed, there are reasons why it is not an easy task... (Nagoya Guideway Bus, Fumihiko Hayashi) "Nagoya is the only city in Japan that uses guideway buses. The systems and production lines used when they were developed no longer exist." While the transportation system combines the advantages of rail and bus, the unique nature of the vehicles makes it difficult to upgrade or purchase new ones. Nagoya Guideway Bus is working with Nagoya City and others to consider ways to alleviate congestion, but no concrete solutions have yet been found. For more details, see NEWS DIG! ↓ https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/cb...