In implementing ways of living that take flooding in flood-prone areas into account, it is important to strike a balance between the ease of everyday living and the reduction of flood damage. To gain this knowledge, we focused on the main building of houses with water-filled pits, and examined the characteristics of the height of the main building and water-filled pits by centimeter-level elevation surveys. The results showed that both the water mound and main building had a small variation in elevation in the target area, that the water mound was raised by 3 to 4 meters, while the main building was raised by only half that amount, and that when the difference in elevation between the site and the main building exceeded 1.3 meters, a garden or barn was built to divide the height of the site. In other words, the main building was built at a height that would occasionally be flooded, and the height of the house was carefully set according to how the refuge space called a “Mitsuka”, the living space called a “Moya”, and the work space called a “Naya” and garden were used.

Recently, with the commercialization of augmented reality devices and the launch of the 5th generation mobile communication network (5G), the applicability of augmented reality in various spaces has been increasing. In particular, for road use, it is necessary to have a view management that can display a variety of data without disturbing the view of the surrounding space. In this paper, we propose a calculation method of important regions to be viewed based on temporal and spatial high-frequency components and object detection results by Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in first-person view video. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conducted an experiment using actual first-person view video images. As a result of the experiment, we confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method by calculating various regions to be seen with general purpose and high accuracy.

This study defined the state of not maintaining a safe following distance as “tailgating” and analyzed its impact on car-following behavior of the preceding vehicle and collision risk using continuous vehicle trajectory data. This study extended the linear following model, known as Helly model, by adding explanatory variables that account for the risk of rear-end collision. A multiple linear regression analysis was applied to estimate the model parameters. Two key insights emerged from our analysis. Firstly, for tailgated vehicles, jerk (rate of change of acceleration) is significantly positive. This suggests that when tailgating occurs, the following vehicle experiences pronounced acceleration and deceleration. Additionally, when tailgating is present, the collision risk with the preceding vehicle is relatively low, but the risk with the following vehicle is relatively high. Secondly, From the estimation results of the Helly model, it was observed that in cases where tailgating is occurring but there is still ample following distance with the leading vehicle, there is a tendency for acceleration when the cumulative back-PICUD value becomes large.

Children’s Independent Mobility (CIM) can be defined as children’s freedom to travel around their own neighborhood or city without adult supervision, which is an important factor in children’s health and physical, social, and mental development. CIM has been discussed since the 1970s and, in many studies, was evaluated by CIM license which is one of the CIM’s indicators. Some papers have suggested that CIM has been on the decline over the past few decades as a result of guardians’ concerns about traffic. In Japan it has been found that children are not allowed to go out on their own as freely as their guardians were. However, the factors affecting CIM in Japan are not clear. The purpose of this study was to clarify these factors by using ordered logistic regression modeling. In the findings, three points were revealed. First, it was shown that CIM was affected by guardians’ concerns about traffic, which was consistent with findings in previous studies. Second, it was confirmed that the factors affecting each license are different. Finally, CIM was proved to be consistently affected by the freedoms or limitations assigned to guardians when they were children.

In recent years, the logistics industry has been promoting more efficient transportation using large vehicles, and the number of applications for traffic permits for special vehicles has been increasing. In order to reduce the burden on carriers and road administrators and to speed up the screening process, there is a need to automate the screening process. In this study, a database of intersection characteristics and information on whether special vehicles are allowed to turn or not was compiled, and a model for automatic determination of whether a vehicle is allowed to turn or not was constructed. The results of a basic tabulation of intersection parameters manually read from Google Map, etc., showed a clear relationship between the intersection area, road width, turning angle, and other parameters and whether or not a vehicle can turn or not. Next, a model for determining whether or not to proceed was developed. After comparing several methods, the neural network model showed the highest accuracy, exceeding 0.7 for vehicle class 0.

Cooperation between river administrators and municipalities is indispensable for the development of a good river space. This paper focuses on the city of Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, where the local government is responsible for planning and implementing flood control measures. The results show that the city has implemented flood control measures in accordance with the land use of the inner dikes, such as the construction of flood control areas in less densely populated areas to reduce flood risks in the city center, the use of portable dikes in areas where citizens are active, and the integration of urban development with the construction of dikes. The above results show that local governments are implementing flood control plans in accordance with the land use of the land within the levees. The results indicate that local governments can be responsible for planning and implementing flood control plans, and can promote urban development that is linked to flood control planning and urban planning.

In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey of J-League game-goers in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, to understand their behavior and attitudes toward staying at the stadium before and after the game. On game days, many people go directly from the station to the stadium and return directly after the game. Satisfaction was shown to affect the time spent at the stadium, especially before the game. The correlation between the time spent at the stadium and the amount of money spent at the stadium suggests that efforts should be made to increase the level of satisfaction when the J-League is in session. The results also showed that there was a difference in the level of satisfaction between home supporters and away supporters. Away supporters were less satisfied with the “availability of tourist information around the stadium” and the “quality of stadium food”, which had a significant impact on the overall satisfaction level on J-League days. The lack of stadium gourmet food available at away seats and the lack of tourist information that integrates the stadium and the city are issues that need to be addressed.

Battery sharing, where the batteries of small electric vehicles are shared and can be swapped for fully charged ones at battery stations around town, is attracting attention. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly important to collectively level battery load from the viewpoint of battery management and energy saving. In this study, we constructed a battery consumption and swap behavior model based on data acquired from a demonstration experiment of a battery-swappable electric two-wheeled vehicle. Furthermore, the study clarified the influence of battery allocations among swap stations and differences in battery use on load leveling and monitor utility.

In Japan, the introduction of SAF, a sustainable aviation fuel, has been attracting attention as an initiative to reduce CO₂ emissions in the field of flight operations, but it is also necessary to fully consider the reduction effects of improving flight operation methods, which are highly feasible in the short term. In addition to flight path improvements such as route shortening, CO₂ reduction through trajectory optimization including speed reduction is also considered to be beneficial, but the effectiveness and feasibility of such improvements have not been fully clarified. In this study, we estimated the fuel reduction potential of the Haneda-Fukuoka route using trajectory optimization. The results show that the CO₂ reduction effect differs depending on the route, and the factors that contribute to the difference are discussed. In addition, the impact of speed reduction on the benefits for passengers and airlines was analyzed, and future CO₂ reduction measures were discussed.

Traffic condition during a disaster is extremely difficult to understand and predict in advance because it varies depending on various factors such as the damage. On the other hands, micro-simulations have been used to predict and re-produce the daily activities and traffic conditions. In this situation, real-time observation data has been collected, and ap-plied in non-stationary situation. Therefore, this study examines the possibility of constructing a simulation model that is combined with the observation data and predicted the behavior and traffic during disaster time. The results indicate the validity of this approach through the empirical trial.

Recently, there is a growing demand for public spaces that foster comfort and encourage pedestrian activity. Station spaces, serving as hubs for community interaction, have garnered particular attention. Achieving seamless and integrated spatial design within ticket gates is essential. This study aims to examine the impact of eliminating ticket gate on lingerability, promoting slow-paced walking and pedestrian engagement. Using a 3D model of a station space, we assessed pedestrian behavior employing image recognition AI. By manipulating ticket gate situation and surrounding environments, we analyzed spatial elements and their interplay. Quantitative analysis revealed that the absence of ticket gates enhances lingerability. Furthermore, introducing cafes and rest areas aligning with pedestrian influx could further enhance lingerability.

The decline in the liveliness of city centers, especially in rural areas, has become a major issue. It is important to understand the factors that promote the circulation of visitors to the city center in order to create a more bustling area. In this study, we used GPS big data from cell phones to understand the behavioral characteristics of visitors in the central area of Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, and to explore the factors that contribute to their circulation. The GPS data used in this study was obtained from a cell phone application. First, a facility selection model was constructed using MNL, and it was shown that visitors tended to select buildings with relatively large stores where they can play, eat, and shop. Next, we analyzed the relationship between building use and each of the following indicators: time spent in the building, distance traveled, and area traveled. The results showed that the time spent by users of clothing stores in Kashiwa was short and the range was narrow. Through the analysis, the applicability of application-type GPS data was explored, and a method for handling the data was presented.

In many cases, evacuations during floods are triggered by direct calls by neighbors, while there are also increasing numbers of cases in which daily communication and information transmission during disasters are conducted via message apps within neighborhood associations and communities. In this study, we hypothesize that the presentation of evacuation-induced conversation screens among residents on a messaging application when flooding danger is imminent contributes to the increase individual willingness to evacuate, compared to the presentation of evacuation instructions on a normal screen. Visual analogue scale, which can measure subjective evaluation as continuous variables with interval scale, was used to evaluate the willingness to evacuate. The evacuation instructions were presented as the control group, and other four types of screens, including the neighbors’ conversations and image information, were used as the treatment groups.

Social changes caused by COVID-19 have had a significant impact on demand for rail services, and it has yet to fully recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. The extent of the impact on passenger numbers varies by railway operator. In the Tokyo metropolitan area, demand for commuter trains is high, and changes in the way people work have had a significant impact. Among these, the impact of the spread of teleworking is significant; however, even in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the implementation of teleworking is not uniform. This is thought to be the reason for the differences in the impact on passenger numbers for each railway operator. In this study, we confirmed that the differences in the impact of telework on railway demand for commuting purposes can be explained to some extent by differences in telework rates by prefecture and industry, as well as by differences in the composition ratios of employed and working populations by industry. Using these results, we estimated demand reflecting the decrease in commuting frequency due to telework by area, operator, and line, and clarified the differences in impact.

The purpose of this study is to review the trends of open river space projects that started in 2011, and to identify the classification of river space use based on the ambivalent aspects of water accessibility and flooding by capturing both the ingenuity of space use and flooding countermeasures in each case. The population within a 15-minute walking distance was calculated based on the classification of the type of use and the project scheme, and the trend was captured based on the population size. Next, a comparative study of flooding countermeasures, spatial composition, and spatial use in the cases with flooding risk was conducted. The results showed that the cases were polarized by population size, with many cases using relatively limited space for eating and drinking in urban areas and events and plazas in suburban areas. The characteristics of the water area were also observed, and the ingenuity of the occupants led to flexible use of the space by securing water friendliness and implementing flood control measures in consideration of the location conditions, facility type, and mobility/temporary installation.

Modern society has various modes of transport and users of different attributes who use them. This already results in a mixture of diverse traffic modes (means of transport × users) in a limited road space. In order to design traffic equipment, roads and traffic rules for the coexistence of various traffic modes, it is necessary to establish the priority of traffic modes. This study analyses people’s awareness of traffic priorities and coexistence using web-based awareness survey data on 20 traffic modes. The results showed that the elderly and vulnerable road users have a high priority, the priority of automated small buses is high regardless of their operational purpose or priority measures, more people are in favour than against priority measures for automated delivery robots that pass on footpaths, and electric kickboards have the lowest priority.

In Japan, the demand for cemeteries is expected to increase due to an increase in the number of tombs that cannot be maintained due to changes in family structure caused by the increasing rate of unmarried people, as well as an increase in the mortality rate. To solve this problem, large cities have begun to put tree-forested cemeteries into service. The purpose of this study is to understand the changes that the opening of tree-forested cemeteries in regional cities has on cemetery demand characteristics. Questionnaire surveys were conducted before and after the opening of tree-lined cemeteries, and changes in cemetery demand characteristics before and after the opening were analyzed. Furthermore, covariance structure analysis was used to examine the relationship between personal attributes, area characteristics, quality of life evaluation, and cemetery demand characteristics. As a result of the analysis, changes in the timing of graveyard acquisition and cemetery type before and after the opening of tree-lined cemeteries were understood. The relationship between age, household composition, and desired cemetery type was also understood. Furthermore, covariance structure analysis was used to analyze the relationship between cemetery demand characteristics and quality of life evaluation.

While a typical effect of bypass improvement is a reduction in travel time, there is also an improvement in travel time reliability due to capacity expansion as a regional transportation network. In this study, travel time reliability was analyzed using ETC2.0 data traveling on the Higashi-Hiroshima BP that opened in March 2023. In this analysis, the travel time reduction and the reliability of travel time was also examined by including the expressway section that serves as an alternative route to the Higashi-Hiroshima BP. Although the opening of the Higashi-Hiroshima BP has improved the average travel time and travel time reliability for the entire segment, the travel time reliability for each segment revealed that the trends differed by segment. The travel time reliability of the alternative highway segments also improved after the opening of the BP, although not as much as for the BP route.

This study examines the spatial transferability of a mode choice model by focusing on the finite nature of user heterogeneity, which can be represented by a mixed distribution of several fundamental travel behavior patterns, and the differences in public transportation LOS (Level of Service) distribution and choice result distribution between cities. Using data from the National Urban Transportation Characteristics Survey, we tested the spatial transferability of a latent class model for 52 cities of varying sizes. The results indicated a high spatial transferability of the proposed model for many cities. Furthermore, for the Tokyo Special Wards, where the spatial transferability of the proposed model was low, we identified significant differences in the distribution of LOS, an explanatory variable, and the distribution of choice results, an outcome variable, compared to other cities. We demonstrated that adjusting these distributions can achieve spatial transferability.

This paper proposes a method to assess pedestrian-evacuation-environments for landslides in consideration of spatial distribution of designated evacuation shelters, and it applies to Nagasaki City as a case study. The method formulates evacuation speed by foot in application of Tobler function, reflecting road slopes and physical ability by age, and assesses local areas in terms of not only capability of their nearest shelters, but also reachability to their nearest shelters by foot. It is implied that residents who live near a low-capability-shelter are required to consider multiple candidates of public and private shelters in advance; on the other hand, those who are difficult to reach their nearest shelters by foot are required to consider early evacuation or evacuation by car in their evacuation planning.

In recent years, the number of vacant houses has been increasing across all regions of Japan, causing widespread external diseconomies. These mismanaged vacant houses affect disaster prevention, crime prevention, sanitation, and the landscape. Additionally, there is concern that the declining marketability of these properties leads to lost opportunities for effective real estate utilization. In this study, we conducted a discriminant analysis of properties registered in the National Bank of Vacant Houses to understand the internal and locational factors that lead to contracts for vacant properties, using detailed property information, surrounding facilities, and urban planning areas as explanatory variables. The results of the discriminant analysis revealed that vacant houses located in urbanized but inconvenient areas, far from railroad stations, nursery schools, and kindergartens, are more likely to occur and are less likely to be sold.

Wider Economic Impacts (WEIs), as measured by the UK Department for Transport, is a method of measuring effects that assumes an imperfectly competitive market and has attracted attention as an effect that cannot be measured by existing cost-benefit analysis. However, it can be pointed out that these measurement methods are approximations of theoretical models, and thus do not completely eliminate the double counting of user benefits. In this study, in order to eliminate double counting of user benefits, we developed an SCGE model considering monopolistic competition and an SCGE model considering perfect competition, and measured the agglomeration economies, one of the WEIs, for each of the 47 prefectures in Japan using a theory-consistent method. The results show that the economies of agglomeration correspond to about 20-40% of the user benefits, although there are differences due to variations in the industrial structure of each region and the regional trade flows.

This study develops a method for predicting accident locations on intercity expressways by utilizing a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM). Specifically, the model employs ETC2.0 driving history data to generate probe trajectory diagrams of vehicles over the past 60 minutes as input data and predicts the likelihood of accidents occurring within the next 30 minutes on a 15 km highway section. Using CNN, an accident risk prediction model is constructed. Furthermore, by applying Grad-CAM to the accident risk prediction model, a method is developed to predict accident locations by leveraging the contribution information of each region in the probe trajectory diagram to the model’s output. Accuracy verification of accident location prediction using the proposed method revealed an approximately 19% improvement in prediction error compared to naïve predictions.

In recent years, the deterioration of operators’ profits due to a decrease in the number of passengers and the shortage of crews have caused a nationwide problem: bus routes have been drastically reduced or eliminated, and users have lost their transportation. However, there is a concern that such reductions and route discontinuance may cause a decline in the number of users due to insufficient consideration of the impact on user demand, resulting in a further decline in profits and the need to reduce or discontinue bus services again. In this study, we construct a model which generate a feasible bus schedule and be used for consideration of measures to improve revenue. We apply this model for an imaginary city bus network to check its behavior and to show an example of simulation of considering measures.

With the quiescence of COVID-19, it is time for both companies and workers to reconsider the frame-work of telework. In this study, we analyzed the impact of telework on workers, focusing on subjective well-being (SWB), using questionnaire survey data. The estimation results using structural equation modeling revealed that telework does not directly affect SWB. However, it was shown to indirectly influence SWB through factors such as work-related stress, job enthusiasm, work-life balance, and satisfaction with travel scale. Furthermore, working from satellite offices was found to have a positive impact on job enthusiasm, while wanting but being unable to work from home negatively affected job enthusiasm. This study demonstrates the complex mechanisms through which teleworking indirectly affects SWB, providing important insights for the formulation of telework-related policies.

In 2020, Upopoy (a symbolic space for ethnic coexistence), also called the “National Ainu Museum”, opened to the public, and the promotion of Ainu culture and tourism was included in the measures of Japan’s tourism policy. However, cultural tourism in Japan is still in its early stages. Hence, this study focused on the psychological distance to the Ainu people and related cultural tourism, and aimed to find out key factors and measures to reduce its distance. Therefore, we proposed a conceptual model defining the psychological distance to Ainu cultural tourism, and verified the hypothesis by structural equation modeling based on web survey data collected from residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area and Hokkaido. The result shows that individual experiences of Ainu culture are most effective in reducing the psychological distance to Ainu cultural tourism. In particular, participation in Ainu cultural events, visits to permanent exhibition museums, and cultural experiences at such exhibitions, in that order, increase people’s interest in Ainu culture.

Shinkansen stations have a wider range of influence than conventional line stations, i.e., the station’s sphere of influence, and are therefore thought to have a greater impact on the municipalities surrounding the station. It is expected that municipalities that will have new Shinkansen stations in the future will be similarly affected, but it is still unclear how the development of Shinkansen stations will affect the regional population. In this study, in order to quantitatively evaluate the population impact of Shinkansen stations on municipalities, we statistically inferred the causal effect of Shinkansen station development by using propensity scores and taking into account regional attributes and the state of development of transportation infrastructure. We targeted 1,125 municipalities across Japan, excluding the Tokyo metropolitan area, government-designated cities, remote islands, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and evacuation areas of Fukushima Prefecture, and performed matching using propensity scores, and quantitatively calculated the effect of Shinkansen station development using DID analysis. As a result, we found that the opening of a Shinkansen station at minor cities has a negative effect on the social increase/decrease rate of population in surrounding municipalities.

After the Lehman Shock, there has been a growing perceived labor shortage in our country. However, there is a lack of statistical analysis regarding labor shortage. Therefore, this study conducted path analysis to clarify the relationship between labor shortage and market competition using multiple regression analysis with labor shortage as the dependent variable, based on time-series data released by the government, as well as a survey conducted specifically for this study. The analysis of government statistics suggests that in the overall Japanese industry, labor shortage tends to increase as business conditions improve and domestic demand increases, and decrease as investment in production facilities increases and total working hours become longer. On the other hand, the survey analysis suggests that as the price elasticity of demand, which is believed to increase during intense market competition, increases, labor conditions such as wage satisfaction and expectations of wage increases decrease, leading to a potential increase in labor shortage.

While there is a demand for a society where people are aware of the need to protect their own lives, recent disasters have also raised the issue of delayed evacuation behavior and low awareness of evacuation. In this study, we focused on the intention to evacuate in the event of a disaster and aimed to understand the influence of messages on the intention to evacuate, to propose a plan to promote the intention to evacuate, and to verify the effectiveness of this plan. We tested four hypotheses about nudge messages by conducting a web-based questionnaire survey that simulates a specific evacuation situation. The results showed that nudge messages were more effective in promoting the intention to evacuate (Hypothesis 1) than ordinary messages (Hypothesis 2), and in the case of loss expressions, the effect of emphasized nudges (Hypothesis 3) was partially confirmed. On the other hand, this study did not confirm the effect of framing (Hypothesis 2) or the effect of describing the message specifically (Hypothesis 4).

The environment surrounding local public transport is becoming increasingly severe due to tight finances of local government and the voluntary restraint on trip making caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. 1,119 local public transportation plans (former regional public transportation network formation plans) were created by the end of August 2024, in conjunction with the revision of the Law for Revitalization of Regional Public Transportation in 2014. Among these plans, some have taken a step away from the conventional planning style of transport business, and awareness of local public transport planning is changing somewhat. This paper introduces the Takarazuka City Local Public Transport Plan developed in accordance with the “Quantitative Evaluation of the Mobile Environment Based on Activity Opportunity Indicators and Plan Formulation Based on the Evaluation” and reports on the concept, evaluation results, setting of plan target values using activity opportunity indicators, and project selection to achieve them. The significance of planning based on quantitative indicators is also discussed.

In order for individuals to voluntarily prepare for disasters and foster disaster prevention awareness in peacetime, it is important to have evaluation indicators that quantitatively indicate risk and appropriately evaluate natural disaster risks. Although quantification and indexing of natural disaster risks have been promoted in various countries, these efforts have been aimed at countries and states, not individuals. Therefore, in this study, we apply bibliometric methods and attempt an exploratory analysis focusing on individual vulnerability in natural disasters. By applying a topic model to papers on natural disasters, we identified five elements that are not included in conventional vulnerability indicators, and after comparing them from the three perspectives of temporality, measurability, and returnability to individuals, we concluded that four of them are additional elements for considering individual vulnerability.

In our country, the concentration of population in Tokyo continues to persist, while on the other hand, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of settling in local areas, leading to a fear of an increase in unwanted moving. Additionally, numerous studies have shown various negative effects of frequent relocation in overseas settings, but there has been no quantitative analysis of the negative effects of relocation in Japan. Therefore, this study analyzed the relationship between residential mobility and various psychological and physical problems through a survey. The results of the analysis showed a tendency for relocation during childhood to lower subsequent well-being levels, and statistically observed psychological and physical negative effects of frequent relocation, suggesting that promoting a local community settlement society is a rational policy direction.

Although traffic accidents have been gradually decreasing in recent years due to the development of safety technologies such as airbags in automobiles, they have not disappeared. One of the arguments that traffic accidents have not been eliminated is the risk homeostasis theory proposed by Wilde¹⁾. Therefore, in this study, we reconfirmed the Brinkmanship experiment in which the value function was set as the utility function. As a result, risk homeostasis theory was partially observed in the set utility function, but the finding of Wilde⁶⁾ that “the value of DFO approaches zero” could not be reproduced. This indicates that the risk homeostasis theory requires a limited interpretation.

In the aspect of regional public transport policy, the field known as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has rapidly emerged in recent years. Even before that, the idea of ‘Transport Town Planning’ had existed and developed as a system of thought that ‘promotes town development through collaboration between citizens and government based on addressing regional issues related to transport’. In this paper, we examine all the cases of “Japanese-style MaaS” in fiscal 2020 to see whether the ideals of “Transport Town Planning” are being realized and whether the unilateralism of public transport operators is being removed, with reference to the Basic Act on Transport Policy, which is a legal philosophy related to transport, in the progress of MaaS policy. As a result, it was revealed that many of the plans did not take into account the maintenance and management of the functions that are emphasized in transport policy. Furthermore, there were very few cases where the construction of the project and the detailed examination of the project through citizen participation were incorporated into the project. Based on these results, we concluded that the Japanese version of MaaS can be considered as ‘Transport Town Planning’ in the conceptual stage, but not in the implementation stage.

Bicycles are one of the most important transport mode in Japan, used for both daily commuting to work, school and shopping, and for leisure activities. Changes in lifestyles since the COVID-19 pandemic has further diversified the use of bicycles. On the other hand, the national and local governments have been promoting the development of bicycle traffic space. However, the development plans do not seem to be based on the actual conditions of use and the local situation because it is unclear what kind of roads and routes are chosen by cyclists. This study aims to empirically clarify the relationship between the number of bicycle trips and spatial characteristics by utilizing bicycle probe data. The main study area was Ota Ward, Tokyo, and the relationship between the number of bicycle trips and roads was examined using a generalized linear model.

As for the current state of intercity transportation in Hokkaido, limited express trains are running at a loss, making it difficult to maintain the routes. Various efforts are being made to promote the use of limited express trains, but a drastic measure to promote the use of trains to residents is needed. In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Kitami and Abashiri cities along the Sekihoku Line to investigate the choice of transportation to Sapporo. Using AHP, the importance of interior space is evaluated with comparison between railway and bus. Using the Nested Logit Model, this study quantitatively analyzed how higher speeds and improved interior space of railway affect the probability of choosing railway. It was found that both higher speeds and improvement of interior space were effective in promoting the use of intercity railway, and that residents had a high preference for private car. It is necessary to simultaneously raise awareness of the need to switch transportation modes.

The purpose of this study is to propose a measure to utilize expressways for inter-regional trunk line buses in regional public transportation. After the abolition of railroads, route buses are often operated mainly on national highways that run parallel to railroads. In response to this situation, a decision-making process was developed to determine the areas where a bus network should be introduced. This network separates inter-regional buses, which travel on expressways, from intra-regional buses, which operate within municipalities. The process was applied to the Hidaka, Shiribeshi, and Dohoku regions in Hokkaido. As a result, it was found that there are many suitable sections, especially those where destination facilities are concentrated in urban areas and where there is a distance of about 10 km between interchanges. It is also shown that the proposed bus network between Nakagawa and Horonobe in Dohoku is not as fast as the railroad network due to the effect of the connection.