Proposal for a subscription-based fare system for unlimited rides on public transportation nationwide

Estimated fees and acceptability

Abstract

In recent years, the decline of regional public transportation has become an issue due to population decline and motorization, especially in rural areas. There are many cases where declining regional public transportation is maintained with subsidies from the national and local governments, but there are limits. In order to maintain such regional public transportation systems in society as a whole, it is important to consider a subscription-type level-fare system in which citizens pay a fixed fee to use and maintain the service. In this study, we examined the feasibility of a system in which citizens pay for the maintenance and management of regional public transportation services, and the system allows unlimited rides on regional public transportation services. As a result, it was found that regional public transportation in Japan can be maintained with a per capita cost of approximately 50,000 yen, and it was shown that a level fare system can be realized with a cost that most citizens can accept.