世論 What Japan Thinks

The government of Japan may have changed, but the Cabinet Office Japan surveys are carrying on – it’ll be interesting to see if I can detect a change in tone in the questions. This survey was entitled a built environment for pedestrians, but also covered most other local transport means.

Demographics

Between the 16th of July and the 2nd of August 2009 5,000 members of the public were selected at random to complete the survey; 3,157 people, or 63.1%, agreed to cooperate. 54.4% of this sample were female, 7.8% in their twenties, 14.3% in their thirties, 17.1% in their forties, 19.8% in their fifties, 23.4% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older. Additionally, 46.1% were employed, 11.6% were self-employed, 3.0% were home workers, and 39.3% were unemployed, including students and housewives, who made up 60.9% of that 39.3%. Finally, 47.8% drove some form of motorised transport almost every day, 15.7% several times a week, 7.3% several times a month, 8.3% had a licence but didn’t drive, and 20.9% did not have a licence.

For me, to walk or cycle to the shops involves traversing an exceptionally steep hill and a bit of pavement-free road, whereas instead my train season ticket allows me to hop on a train and ride one stop down the line to get right into my suburban town centre.

Research results

Q9: What kinds of facilities do you think are needed within walking, cycling distance? (Sample size=3,157, multiple answer)

Hospitals, welfare facilities	80.3%
Supermarkets selling food, everyday goods, etc	76.1%
Post office, banks	71.3%
Schools	56.4%
Train stations, bus stops	48.6%
Public parks, plazas, green spaces	47.1%
Nursery, kindergarten, other childrearing support facilites	44.9%
Libraries, lifelong learning, other culture, education facilities	39.1%
Restaurants, coffee shops, etc	29.7%
Specialist shops like clothes, electrical items, furniture, etc	26.1%
Other	0.4%
Don’t know	1.4%

Q10: Do you have a family car or a bicycle? (Sample size=3,157)

Both car and bicycle (to SQ1 and SQ2)	53.2%
Only car (to SQ1)	22.5%
Only bicycle	14.3%
Neither car nor bicycle	10.1%

Q10SQ1: When you need to go somewhere within walking distance, how to you get there? (Sample size=2,387)

Always by foot or on bicycle	37.7%
Usually by foot or on bicycle	17.6%
Usually by car (to SQ3 and SQ4)	28.2%
Always by car (to SQ3 and SQ4)	15.3%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	0.6%

Q10SQ2: When you need to go somewhere within cycling distance, how to you get there? (Sample size=1,678)

Always by foot or on bicycle	30.2%
Usually by foot or on bicycle	23.7%
Usually by car (to SQ3 and SQ4)	28.8%
Always by car (to SQ3 and SQ4)	9.5%
Other	0.5%
Don’t know	7.3%

Q10SQ3: When you need to go somewhere within walking or cycling distance, in the future how would you like to get there? (Sample size=1,197)

If possible by foot or by bicycle	43.5%
Still by car	51.2%
Other	0.3%
Don’t know	5.0%

Q10SQ4: When you need to go somewhere within walking or cycling distance, for what reasons do you choose to use your car instead? (Sample size=1,197, multiple answer)

Car is quicker	64.2%
Have luggage	51.0%
Can move more than one person at a time	37.4%
Lots of hills, etc make walking or cycling a problem	14.4%
Tiring to walk or cycle	12.1%
Like driving	10.1%
Roads are dangerous to walk or cycle on	8.5%
Because of my physical state, I can only use the car	7.8%
Other	1.0%
Don’t know	7.9%

Q11: What do you think is needed in order to make it easier to walk? (Sample size=3,157, multiple answer)

Add or widen the pavement (sidewalk) on busy roads	60.4%
Remove kerbs, telegraph poles, etc to advance barrier free	54.0%
Add street lighting and other anti-crime measures	51.9%
Separate pedestrians from bicycles (bicycle lanes, etc)	48.0%
Make public transport more accessible, so it becomes easier to travel by foot	41.2%
Provide more parking facilities to reduce illegal parking	37.6%
Give pedestrians priority over cars in residential streets	28.9%
Liven up the town, making it fun to walk	23.1%
Have sufficient home delivery services when shopping	14.1%
Nothing in particular	3.1%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	1.2%

Q12: What do you think is needed in order to make it easier to cycle? (Sample size=3,157, multiple answer)

Separate bicycles from pedestrians and cars (bicycle lanes, etc)	64.5%
Remove kerbs, stop on-street car parking, preserving an easy to cycle in space	53.4%
Improve the manners of cyclers with regards to safe riding, etc	47.8%
Provide bicycle parking at stations, bus stops, shops, etc	42.9%
Provide sufficient facilities for rental cycles at destinations (railway stations, etc)	21.2%
Nothing in particular	5.0%
Other	0.3%
Don’t know	2.9%

Q13: What do you think about how you use trains, buses and other public transport? (Sample size=3,157)

Currently I use public transport a lot, and in the future too I want to use where possible	32.5%
Currently I use public transport a lot, but in the future I want to use a family car	2.1%
Currently I use a family car a lot, and in the future too I want to use where possible	35.4%
Currently I use a family car a lot, but in the future I want to use public transport	25.2%
Other	1.1%
Don’t know	3.7%

Q14: To promote a built environment for pedestrians and to make public transport easier to use, how do you think the cost burden should be dealt with? (Sample size=3,157)

As it is important to make public transport easier to use, taxpayers should bear the burden	44.3%
It may be important to make public transport easier to use, but neither taxpayers nor transport users should bear the burden	27.2%
It is important to make public transport easier to use, but transport services should bear the burden, perhaps resulting in fare increases	18.3%
There is no need to make public transport easier to use	4.2%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	5.4%

Q15: Regarding trains, buses and other public transport, in the future what measures would you like to see effort being put into? (Sample size=3,157, multiple answer)

Creating new routes to poorly-served communities	47.9%
Set more user-friendly pricing	46.0%
Increase frequency; lengthening service periods with earlier starts, later finishes, etc	45.4%
Improve cooperation between rail operators, rail and bus, taxis, etc	30.7%
Add park and ride facilities	24.2%
Set up transit information systems (timetables, routes, delay information, etc)	23.2%
Adding bus lanes, etc, to make them run on time	20.6%
Freshen up carriages, waiting areas, etc	17.4%
Introduce LRT (Light Rail Transit), bendy buses, etc	15.5%
Nothing in particular	7.2%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	2.8%