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News Letter

Edited by
The International Committee of the CPIJ
Chair: Akihiko TANI, Kanazawa Institute of Technology

No.22 Nov. 2003

District-scale Traffic Planning andManagement
Contents:
1. District-scale traffic planning and management

Fumihiko NAKAMURA, Yokohama National Univ.

2. The Introduction and Development of Community Zones

Hisashi KUBOTA, Saitama University

3. A Review of the Impact of Community Zones

Naruhito HASHIMOTO, Toyota Transportation Research Institute

4. The Street Regeneration Project in the Kurosaki District,Yahatanishi-ku, City of Kitakyushu

Hiroshi IMANAGA, City of Kitakyushu Construction Bureau Road Department, Road Planning Section Chief

5. Efforts by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to achieve a Bicycle-Friendly Environment

Masanori WAKAO, The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Road Bureau

6. District Transportation Plan and Barrier-Free/Universal Design

Atsushi MATSUBARA, Oriental Consultants Co. Ltd.

1. District-scale Traffic Planning and Management in Japan
Editor: Fumihiko NAKAMURA, Yokohama National University
duced systematically, and trial cases are being implemented based on overseas precedents. This article provides a specific explanation of these precedents with afocus on measures regarding pedestrians.
Firstly, the oversea precedents can be listed as in
Table 1.

District-scale traffic planning and management
deals with the planning and the management of roadtraffic on a micro scale. It deals with micro-scale andshort- term issues, and is in contrast with studies
concernconcerned with forecasting transportation demand
One of the reasons this field is active in Japan isthat past attempts in Europe and the US were intro-

Table 1: Overseas Events that have Influenced District-scale Traffic Planning and Management in Japan
year

event

issues1928

Radburn Development

Segregation of pedestrian and vehicular circulation

1929

Neighborhood theory

Neighborhood design concept to protect residents from through traffic

1963

Buchanan Report

Definition of Environmental Area as one with no through traffic and a hierarchy ofroads in terms of balance between traffic function and access function

1970

Woonerf demonstration

Concept of space as shared between pedestrians and vehicles. Introduction ofchicanes and humps

1970

Appleyard’s “Livable Street”

Importance of citizen involvement in the field of district-scale traffic planning andmanagement

1980’sTraffic Calming

Package of devices to reduce traffic speed within designated zones called zone 30 orzone 20 using various types of devices such as chicanes and humps.

CPIJ News Letter No.22 Season.2003

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In practice, consideration for pedestrian safety andamenity started in the 1960s. The earlier attempts werein large-scale new developments where road networks
played a central role. As representative examples we
can think of the introduction of the Neighborhood District concept in Senri New Town and automobile-pedestrian segregation in Tama New Town.
In the 1970s, cases that tried to deal with traffic
issues by changing the nature of traffic regulation inexisting built environments began to appear. The Residential Environment Improvement Program whichstarted in 1975 was the first attempt to integrate road
improvement and traffic regulation. In the case of
Amagasaki, curbstones were placed diagonally at intersections to block the automobile flow.
In 1980, two years after the Woonerf concept was
introduced from Holland in 1978, "a community road"was completed in Osaka City, and this may be seen as aprototype of the Japanese version of Woonerf. In thismilestone attempt, the existing structure of the road waschanged; the driveway was narrowed and chicanes wereplaced on the road. This was the result of cooperation

between road administrators and traffic administrators.
The Community Road became a national program anddeveloped into the Roadpia Program.
In the late 1990s, under the influence of the traffic-calming program in Europe, a program called "theCommunity Zone" began. It integrated traffic regulation and road improvement, with residents' involvement
as its main principle. After humps were legally approvedby an amendment to the Road Construction Ordinance,
the community zone program went national and was
implemented in dozens of districts.
As described so far, the district-scale traffic planning and management has developed in theory and inpractice through learning from the West and through an
accumulation of micro-scale, short-term measures. Apartfrom the pedestrian measures described here, there aremany other aspects that need to be considered, such as
bicycles, people with disabilities, transit malls linked to
public transportation, relationship to downtown revitalization, and relationship to tourist attractions. A number of real life examples (many of which may be in theform of social experiments) can be found.

2. The Introduction and Development of Community Zones
Hisashi KUBOTA, Saitama University
The Community Zone is a district traffic safety
program implemented since 1996 in Japan. The program is modeled on Europe's ZONE 30, and it focuses onan area encircled by arterial roads.
The program was introduced with the aim of integrating the measures practiced by the Public Safety Commissions (Residential Zone regulations) and those practiced by road administrators (Community roads). By linking them, the Community Zone tries to achieve effective
traffic safety within a district.
The Community Zone program has characteristics that are distinctive from conventional traffic safetymeasures.

neighborhood, a participatory process is specified,e.g., the formation of a residents' committee. Cooperation between local organizations such as residents'
associations, local merchants' associations, and local schools, and public agencies such as park authorities and fire departments, is also needed.
4. It includes comprehensive consideration( e . g . , a c c e s s i b i l i t y, e n v i r o n m e n t , a n dmachizukuri) of both road users and residents
Although the primary goal of the Community
Zone program is traffic safety, utilization of the physical devices can contribute to improving accessibility
and the environment of the target district. It has
the potential to develop into community development
in a broader sense.

1. It captures the target area in an integrated manner
An area encircled by arterial roads is captured in
an integrated manner in that through traffic is eliminated from the target area while a comprehensive
package of traffic safety measures is implemented.

As of fy2001, the Community Zone has been
adopted in 152 districts, in 58 of which the construction
is nearly complete. In a before-after survey, significant
effects, such as traffic accidents reduced by half, wereobserved in most of the researched districts.
In 2003, a new traffic safety program, "Secure
Walking Area," was introduced. The new program does
not limit its target to "an area encircled by arterial roads."
Spot measures like pedestrian-automobile separatingintersections and linear measures like the widening ofroadside spaces can be implemented where appropriate,
and it seems as though traffic safety measures have entered an era of diversification. Besides residential areas,application of such zone programs to commercial districts
is now being considered, and the linkage between traffic
safety and machizukuri is becoming clearer and clearer.

2. It coordinates regulations and physical devices effectively
The software, such as traffic regulations, and the
hardware, or physical devices, such as humps andchokers, are effectively coordinated in the community zones. This means that traffic safety is achieved
through cooperation between the traffic administrators (the Public Safety Commissions) and the roadadministrators.
3. It has a comprehensive implementation
structure including residents and relatedorgani zations
Upon implementation of a community zone in a
CPIJ News Letter No.22 Season.2003

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3. A Review of the Impact of Community Zones
Naruhito HASHIMOTO, Toyota Transportation Research Institute
The Community Zone, which was introduced in
1996, was the first full-scale district traffic-calming program in Japan. Up to then, traffic safety measures inresidential areas centered on traffic regulations such as
school zones and silver zones, or linear or on-the-spot
modification of hardware such as Community Roads andintersection improvements. As the first attempt to combine traffic regulation and device modification, taking
into account the extent of surface coverage of residential
areas, expectations of the results of the Community Zones
are high.
Besides traffic safety, expectations of the kinds ofimpact likely to be produced by Community Zones include the creation of safe and comfortable pedestrianspace, the mitigation of traffic pollution, community revitalization, and crime prevention. Thus, when reviewing the impact of Community Zones, many aspects suchas those listed above have to be considered. However,
due to space limitation, this article will focus on the decrease of traffic accidents, which is the central theme ofthe program.
Figure 1 shows the increase and decrease of accidents which occurred in 19 community zones which had
been implemented for more than a year as of March 2002.
The number shows only a national trend but the accident-reducing effect of the community zones can be clearlyobserved.

Befor

After

0%

200

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Figure 2. Average Speed of Survey Points

As discussed above, past surveys show that theCommunity Zone generates positive impacts. However,some issues still remain as subjects of future study.
A typical example would be the lack of safety-securing measures in narrow streets without sidewalks,
which account for the major part of the streets of Japan.
The impact of a community zone in Mitaka, Tokyo, shownin Table 1, describes the problem clearly. The Mitaka
Community Zone, as a model district, was one of thefirst community zones to be completed. Table 1 showsthat the number of accidents was reduced by half in total, but no effect was observed in the number of accidents happening in narrower streets, showing that thesafety measures in such streets require further study.
These streets, with a width of less than 6 meters,
are very prevalent in residential areas, and study of traffic safety measures for such streets is being conducted
as an urgent issue.

3
Before 16- 30km/h- 35km/h- 40km/h- 45km/h
45km/h -219

Table 1. Accident Occurrence of Road Classification(The Mitaka Community Road)
6

After

163

172

Death
Injury (Serious)
Injury (Slight)

Classification

Before

After

1994

1995

Ave.

1997

1998

Ave.

7

12

9.5

10

9

9.5

Non-Trunk Road 1 4

29

21.5

4

5

4.5

Total Accidents

41

31.0

14

14

14.0

3
Trunk Road
0

50

100

150

200

250
(persons)

Figure 1. In Crease and Decrease of Accidents(Occurred in 19 Community Zones)

To conclude, the Community Zone is significant
as Japan's first full-scale district traffic-calming program.
The various kinds of impact on traffic safety and environmental improvement are becoming clear; the issues
are also becoming clear. Therefore, the promotion of further study and more implementation in residential environments are now expected.

In terms of the speed of automobiles, a before-after
assessment has been conducted in 12 districts (25 survey points). There is room for discussion on how the
speed-controlling effect within the rearranged surface areas can be assessed. However, by simply looking at the
25 points, the average speed has decreased by 15.7%,
from 37.8 km/h to 31.9 km/h. Here also, the impact of
the community zones is clear.
Furthermore, residents' evaluation is importantin a program such as this one, which is closely related toeveryday life. In residents' surveys that are conductedin many places, a majority are in favor of the program.
The result shows that community zones are valued not
only for their traffic safety effect, but also as a measure
for improving the living environment.

CPIJ News Letter No.22 Season.2003

21

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4. The Street Regeneration Project in the Kurosaki District, Yahatanishi-ku, City of Kitakyushu
Hiroshi IMANAGA, City of Kitakyushu Construction Bureau Road Department,
Road Planning Section Chief
Kurosaki District is a designated subcenter in "theKitakyushu Renaissance," and as an important transportation hub, the district developed around JR Kurosaki
Station. However, with the increase of suburban megastores and the exodus of residents to the suburbs, alongwith changes in the economic situation, the district isnow losing its power to attract people.
Responding to this situation, the City of Kitakyushu
has promoted several projects and community development initiatives through public and private partnerships.
In July 2002, with the cooperation of local people andbusiness enterprises, the City drafted a "Kurosaki
Subcenter Barrier-Free Plan," envsaging the formationof a city where every person can live safely and comfortably, and this is now being actively promoted.
On the other hand, traffic problems in the commercial district around the station were serious. Due tothe congestion caused by cars, pedestrians and bicycles,
traffic accidents occurred frequently, and illegally-parked
cars and bicycles inhibited the proper functions of roads.
Thus, in order to create safe streets and revitalize the
district, the "Street Regeneration Project" was initiated.
In 31 streets comprising the commercial district,workshops were organized on the basis of active local
cooperation. At present, the workshops are ongoing infive of the streets. The discussions cover wide range ofissues including sidewalk improvements, measures todeal with illegally parked cars and waiting taxis, rules
for using loading/unloading spaces, and future maintenance of the streets. After an improvement plan is drawn
up, an implementation project is launched. This year,
an implementation project has been launched in one of
the streets.
In order to promote the "Street Regeneration
Project," locally-led workshops were adopted rather thanBus terminal

JR lineChikuho LineLand Readjustment Area
JR Kurosaki Station

Com City

Public Hall

Ward officeDistrict around the station

Hotel

Street Regeberation Project Area

Welfare Hospital
Important
Maintenance Area

pic. 1 Kurosaki District

the conventional government-led process commonly usedin road construction work. It is expected that the process will raise the awareness of local people concerning
machizukuri and eventually lead to the revitalization of
the downtown shopping streets.
In order to maintain the improved streets after
the project finishes, it is also important to raise the awareness of the residents and shopkeepers who live and workin houses and shops fronting onto these streets and toensure that agreed management rules are complied with
continuously in the future

5. Efforts by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to achieve a Bicycle-Friendly
Environment
Masanori WAKAO, The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Road Bureau
1. Characteristics of Bicycles
Bicycles are environmentally-friendly vehicles
without emission, and easy to ride requiring no license.
In the 2000 National Census, bicycles maintained
a stable 10% as one of the representative modes for commuting, and even today, when the automobile share hasswollen, bicycles still play an essential part(Figure 1).

Railway
28.8%

1970

24.2%

1980

Buss

Car Two-Wheeler Walk Others

17.2%

14.5% 15.0%

11.0%

16.4%

14.9%

Two-Wheeler

5.9%

2. Bicycles and the Battle against Global Warming
In the Kyoto Protocol, Japan committed itself to a
6% reduction in greenhouse gas. In order to accomplish
this target, many measures related to transportation arebeing considered. The promotion of bicycle use and theconsequent reduction of automobile use is one of them.
CPIJ News Letter No.22 Season.2003

28.7%

23.4%

37.2%

25.0%

1990

Motorbike 4.7% Bicycle

12.9% 10.4%
17.6%

3.7%

3.5%

23.8%

2000

44.8%

12.2%7.5%
15.7%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Figure 1. The Proportion of Representative Modes
Used for Commuting

4

Table1. The Extension of Bicycle tracks in Key Countries
country
year
Extension of bicycle percentage(%)
length per amounttracks (km)of land (m/km2)
Netherlands
1985
14,500
8.6
349
Germany
1985
23,100
4.7
65
Japan
2001
5,945
0.5
16
3. Issues surrounding Bicycles(1) Large Number of Accidents involving Bicycles
Twelve percent of the total number of fatal accidents happen while people are riding bicycles, and this isa high rate compared to other countries. Efforts to reduce the number of accidents are needed (Figure 2).

length per 1000
bicycles (km)
1,317
660
70

1960s when automobile accidents showed a rapid increase.
The construction such tracks will be promoted continuously in the future (Figure 4).
120,000
Total: 102,439km
100,000

Bicycle Two-Wheeler

Walk

Car

Others2001

80,00096,009km
2001

60,000Japan

Extension of Bicycle-pedestrian Paths(Blue part)

40,000U.K.

Extension of Bicycle Tracks and Exclusive Tracks

6,430km(Red part).

2001

20,0000Germany

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2001

Figure 4. Changes over time in the Extension of Bicycle Tracks(2) Measures against Illegally Parked Bicycles
To deal with the illegally parked bicycles in frontof stations, the construction of parking spaces for bicycles
parking is being promoted. In 2001, space for 3.75 million bicycles was secured and is contributing to the reduction of illegal parking.

FranceU.S.A.

Figure 2. International Comparison of 30-day death count(2) Scarcity of Space for Bicycles
The extent of roads with specified space secured
for bicycles, such as a bicycle track, is 0.6% of the total,
and internationally compared, the percentage is much
lower than 8.6% in the Netherlands, and also lower thanmost countries in Europe (Table 1).

(3) Designation of Model Cities for a Bicycle-Friendly
Environment
To promote the improvement of environment forbicycle use, 19 model cities have been designated as leading cities in the improvement of bicycle-oriented environment in 1999. Extensive support has been given tothese model cities (Figure 5).

(3) Illegally-Parked Bicycles
The number of illegally parked bicycles has decreased from the peak in 1981, when 990,000 bicycles
were left illegally, to 540,000 in 2001. However, parked
bicycles are still a big issue in front of stations, where
they block pedestrian access. Measures are needed (Figure 3).
Capacity(4) Modification of the Road Structure OrdinanceIn 2001, the Road Structure Ordinance, which sets
the basic standard of road structure, was modified so to
oblige installation of bicycle tracks on trunk roads where
bicycle traffic is significant.
(5) Implementation of Social Experiments
Social experiments are being conducted in many
places. In some, bicycles
are used as a part of TDM(Traffic Demand Management: the measurement tosmooth traffic flow throughcontrolling the total
amount.), and in others,
Rent-a-Cycle schemes are
adopted to reduce illegally Picture 1. Social Experiment using
Rent-a-Cycle (Niizu, Niigata)parked bicycles (Picture 1).

Illegally-Parked

5,000,000

1,200,000

990,000

4,500,000

Capacity
Illegally-Parked

1981

3,750,000
4,000,000

1,000,000

2001

3,500,000
800,000
3,000,000
2,500,000

600,000

2,000,000

540,000
400,0002001

1,500,000
1,000,000

200,000
500,000
0

0
1977

1981

1985

1989

1993

1997

2001

Figure 3. Changes over time in terms of Illegally Parked Bicycles(6) For the Further Promotion of Bicycle Use
Based on the leading examples, the demand fromlocal authorities, and the public, the MILT will continue
to promote bicycle use throughout the nation throughproviding technical and financial support.

4. Efforts of the Ministry of Land and Transport(1) Construction of Bicycle Tracks
Construction of bicycles tracks, bicycle-exclusive
tracks, and bicycle-pedestrian paths started in the midCPIJ News Letter No.22 Season.2003

5

6. District Transportation Plan and Barrier-Free/Universal Design
Atsushi MATSUBARA, Oriental Consultants Co. Ltd.
When I drove into an alley in my neighborhood
recently, I saw an electric wheelchair winding its way
around electric poles and bicycles parked on sidewalks,
while the car in front of me passed the wheelchair at ahigh speed. As I slowed down, the driver of a car behindblew the horn impatiently. Such scenes are taking place
everywhere in Japan today.
In 2000, the Barrier-Free Transportation Law went
into effect. Simply stated, the law imposes an obligationof accessibility on public transportation services androutes between stations with 5,000 or more users a day
and nearby public facilities. According to the road structure guidelines, sidewalks have to be more than 2 meters
in width and the difference in levels and the slope oframps have to conform to a requisite minimum.
By constructing sidewalks, traffic safety for pedestrians will be improved, securing at least one routethat is exclusive to pedestrians, including people withdisabilities and the elderly. However, there is a concernthat the sidewalks may become an excuse for putting off
efforts to achieve further improvements in accessibility
and district transportation plans. The episode narrated
at the beginning of this article is rooted in the mismatch
between the road hierarchy and the actual traffic flow.
The development of District Transportation Plans
in urban areas is making little progress; and safety andamenity for pedestrians and roadside residents are shiftedto ne side as long-term issues. For example, in shopping
streets and residential areas, the primary strategy should
be to minimize through traffic rather than constructing
sidewalks. The next step should be to regulate the speedof automobiles. In Japan, discussions on accessibility
often center on the structure of the sidewalks, differences in levels and their width, since the importance andvalidity of sidewalks have high visibility. However, moststreets in Japan are too narrow to have separate sidewalks, making clear the limitations of this strategy. To
respond to the accessibility issue faced by many communities, the definitive solution is the calming of traffic
through a combination of inflow restrictions and speed
regulation. However, in Japan, traffic administratorsand road administrators are separate entities, making it
difficult to implement integrated measures. Also, in somecases, residents are opposed to inflow restrictions. Therefore, such strategies are not commonly practiced.
If one tries to define how traffic measures havedeveloped from "barrier-free" to "universal design," flat
floors and gentle ramps can be defined in terms of barrier-free design, since they correspond to the needs ofspecific people. On the other hand, the calming of traffic
through a combination of inflow restriction and traffic
regulation can be defined in terms of universal design,
since it contributes to the safety and comfort of every
user. The formation of pedestrian malls, and the improvement of transportation systems and hubs focusing
on the continuum of traveling may also be considered as
falling into the category of universal design in the same
sense. Taking a different perspective, the Barrier-Free
CPIJ News Letter No.22 Season.2003

Transportation Law does not, as its name states, go further than the boundaries of barrier-free. In universal
design, it is important to include the idea of the continuum of traveling and to contribute to the raise of thenumber of people with disabilities and the elderly who
engage in outdoor activities. This aim requires not only
the improvement of the usability of transportation hubs
and measures for pedestrians, but also measures for bicycles, buses, paratransits, Special Transport Services(STS), the linkage between individual services like taxes
and mass transit, and the road structures that correspond to these transportations.
Furthermore, to achieve the calming of the traffic, it is important that there is a process of cooperation
between residents and the local government. In Japan,
the public participation process is not yet firmly established, and also the validity of traffic calming is not sufficiently understood. Opinions such as "I agree with theidea, but I don't want to detour my car or to have devices
set out in front of my house" are strongly voiced, and it iscommon for the discussions to fade away gradually as
the topics become specific. Especially in shopping streets,the idea of eliminating cars and creating pedestrian mallsin order to revitalize and make the area accessible often
fails to win the understanding of the citizens. Many places
in Japan are now suffering from labor pains.

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