Provision of local bus services in Japan: focusing on the roles for local governments and nonprofit organisations

Japan’s bus deregulation program (coach and local) was carried out in February 2002. Its main point was to loosen or eliminate Demand-Supply Balancing (Jukyu-Chosei.) This regulation was a licensing system and functioned as entry/exit regulation. It defended incumbents (approximately 360 operators) and did not let potential entrants respond to increasing demand for some services. It also forced the incumbents to cross-subsidise noncommercial services. In other words, the incumbents were allowed to enjoy a situation of local monopoly but forced to maintain non-commercial services. Although five years have passed since the deregulation, we have not seen major changes in the structure of the local bus market, as there have been few entrants. On the other hand, the incumbents are apt to abandon non-commercial services, because they now have freedom of exit and cross-subsidisation is no longer sustainable. The supply of commercial services can be left to the market mechanism, but the problem is who is in charge of maintaining noncommercial but indispensable services, especially in rural areas. This is why the deregulation has had impact on the transport policy by local governments. In fact, local governments all over Japan have been more involved in policies for public transport. But many of them are now facing a budget deficit and need to cut expenditures, including subsidies for bus services. Thus, nonprofit organisations (NPOs) are also expected to play a crucial role in the local transport market, like community transport in England. Some NPOs have been founded by the inhabitants and have tried to form a partnership with bus operators, local governments, shops, hospitals and so on in their local communities. The aim of this paper is to analyse the roles for NPOs in the local bus market, in comparison with those for local government. First, we describe the Japanese local bus market before and after the deregulation. Secondly, we consider the roles for local governments and NPOs in the local bus market. Next, we analyse some pioneering cases. In conclusion, we give a future prospect of local bus service provision in Japan, from the viewpoint of partnerships among local governments, private operators and NPOs.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Public Transport for Shopping: An Analysis On The Interaction Between Intrinsic And Derived Demand

In general, transport demand is derived from the intrinsic demand, that is, the purpose of the trip. For example, in Japanese rural areas, the main purposes of the use of public transport by elderly people are going to hospital and shopping. Thus, in order to analyse transport demand and promote the use of public transport, we should analyse its intrinsic demand and investigate why and to where people take trains or buses. In this paper we focus on the transport demand for shopping, because the analysis on shopping behaviour is expected to have implications for downtown revitalisation and social inclusion. First, we analyse the impact of stimulating intrinsic demand on the transport demand, by studying cases of private-sector railway companies in Japanese metropolitan areas. Next, we analyse in reverse, the impact of stimulating transport demand on the intrinsic demand, by studying cases of a “shopping bus” in Japanese small and medium-sized cities.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

A Calculation Method of Deposition Profiles in CVD Reactors Using Genetic Algorithms

AbstractIn this study, we introduced a novel and generalized calculation method to reproduce the deposition profiles in various types of chemical vapor deposition reactors. Robust and accurate calculations along with reduced computing cost were achieved by this method. Both boundary value problems and initial value problems for estimating the mass balance equations of the deposition species by iterations of numerical integrations were changed into problems of finding the linear combinations consisting of a few “basis functions,” which are inherent in the reactors and deposition species. The coefficients of the linear combinations were optimized using genetic algorithms. We could demonstrate the validity of the proposed method using various examples of the reaction mechanisms and conditions

Dn-geometry and singularities of tangent surfaces

The geometric model for Dn-Dynkin diagram is explicitly constructed and associated generic singularities of tangent surfaces are classified up to local diffeomorphisms. We observe, as well as the triality in D4 case, the difference of the classification for D3;D4;D5 and Dn(n ・ 6), and a kind of stability of the classification in Dn for n ! 1. Also we present the classifications of singularities of tangent surfaces for the cases B3;A3 = D3;G2;C2 = B2 and A2 arising from D4 by the processes of foldings and removings

Singularities of tangent surfaces in Cartan's split G2-geometry

In the split G2-geometry, we study the correspondence found by E. Cartan between the Cartan distribution and the contact distribution with Monge structure on spaces of five variables. Then the generic classification is given on singularities of tangent surfaces to Cartan curves and to Monge curves via the viewpoint of duality. The geometric singularity theory for simple Lie algebras of rank 2, namely, for A2,C2 = B2 and G2 is established

D_n-geometry and singularities of tangent surfaces

The geometric model for Dn-Dynkin diagram is explicitly constructed and associated generic singularities of tangent surfaces are classified up to local diffeomorphisms. We observe, as well as the triality in D4 case, the difference of the classification for D3,D4,D5 and Dn(n ≥ 6), and a kind of stability of the classification in Dn for n → ∞. Also we present the classifications of singularities of tangent surfaces for the cases B3,A3 = D3,G2,C2 = B2 and A2 arising from D4 by the processes of foldings and removings