A Study on Review Processes of Community Bus Services Provided by Local Governments - A Case Study on the "Taco-bus" in Akashi City, Japan-

Abstract

It is an important duty for a local authority to provide reliable public transport within the local area for every citizen including elderly and disabled people. Many local authorities in Japan have introduced community bus services of typical community public transport services. However, the financial burden to the local authorities is huge, and sustainable public transport services that reflect the demand of the local areas are urgently sought. Attention is drawn especially to the community bus in regional public transport, and the PDCA cycle when it had paid attention to the review process at the introductory stage is presented in the present study. In addition, this PDCA cycle could be proposed and practiced to ensure that a smooth, advanced review could be achieved as a result in comparison with other introduction regions, and to be able to confirm the effectiveness of the community bus "Taco bus" plan in Akashi City, Japan.