2022 Volume 78 Issue 6 Pages II_541-II_555
This paper aims to reveal recent changes in using metropolitan expressway by freight vehicles and to consider the influence of developments and structural changes in the logistic industry. Using electronic toll collection (ETC) data, freight vehicle traffic trends on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway were analyzed for 2014 to 2019. Changes in these trends were also considered in relation to those in logistics system, based on interviews with logistics company representatives. While large truck traffic continued increasing, there are regional differences due to the change of logistics facility location strategy. The tendency of some ordinary trucks to shift the usage time from after 18:00 to before 18:00 was verified with the data. The number of times a truck uses the expressway per day is also increasing. These changes indicate that the work style reform policy and improvement of transportation efficiency affect freight vehicle’s use of expressway. As the management of working hours and the improvement of efficiency will be more critical in logistics facility location strategy, it is expected that the facility demand in areas closer to the metropolitan center will increase.
