Fumihiko Nakamura
Professor, Dean, Institute of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University

Introduction

Prof. Nakamura is an IATSS member. He graduated from the Department of Urban Engineeringof the University of Tokyo, going on to gain his Master's degree from the School of Engineering
at the same university. He holds a PhD in engineering. His areas of specialty are urban transport
planning, transport facility planning, urban planning and regional planning. He serves on a varietyof deliberative councils and committees, including at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportand Tourism and also in local government. His publications include Basu de Machi-zukuri (TownPlanning with Buses) (Gakugei Publishing).

Over two years from ﬁscal 2011 to 2012, the International Association of Traﬃcand Safety Sciences (IATSS) engaged in research on “Challenges for urban
transport systems in ensuring mobility for persons with intellectual disabilities.”
In the first year research concentrated on identifying the problems in Japan
relating to commuting for school students with intellectual disabilities, out of thegeneral issues that face persons with intellectual disabilities. In the second year
the research advanced to study trends overseas and clarify what lessons could belearned from cutting-edge case studies.

ContentsIntroduction

1Fumihiko Nakamura
Professor, Dean, Institute of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University

Chapter 1

4

The initiative in Nordhorn City, Germany toprovide commuting training on city buses

In the early stages there were doubts expressed as to why the research waslimited to school students from among the wide range of people with intellectual
disabilities. However, based on the desire to ﬁnd something that could be done
for children with disabilities in the educational and learning environment, andalso on the reasoning that it would be preferable to provide training on the useof public transport while children were commuting to school, so that they could
utilize this training to lead independent lives in the community after graduation,
it was decided to focus the research on school students.

Hildegard Roosen
Former Headmaster of Vechtetalschule

Chapter 2Towards Support for Commuting by Students
with Disabilities
Panel Discussion

19Let us consider brieﬂy the current status and challenges relating to commutingfor school students with intellectual disabilities in Japan.
The commute to school for students with intellectual disabilities is generally
provided by parents, guardians or social services. However, this places aconsiderable burden on parents and guardians. Other than these commuting1methods there are two further patterns of commuting: 1) the school bus, and 2)
independent commuting by public transport. If either of these patterns could beadopted it would lessen the burden on parents and guardians, but both patterns
present various issues.
Firstly, with regard to 1) the school bus, it has been pointed out that as
school catchment areas are very wide, this leads to extended bus routes thatentail very long rides for students. On the other hand, with regard to 2)
independent commuting by public transport, there are concerns about such
issues as the different commuting environment for each student, difficulties
in teaching children how to commute by bus, issues about responding toemergency situations, and parents’ worries about letting their children commute
independently. With regard to pattern 1) although the issue of long journey
times has been raised, no further action has been witnessed, perhaps due to thefact that it is not considered urgent. With regard to pattern 2), although we haveseen a slight improvement in the situation by compiling handbooks, this has
regrettably not led to any positive eﬀorts to promote independent commuting.
It was decided to engage in research into cutting-edge case studies from overseas
about these commuting methods. First we surveyed countries that are generally
considered to be advanced in terms of welfare assistance and provision, however,contrary to expectations we could not ﬁnd any examples of speciﬁc activities. Byfurther expanding the breadth of our research we found two case studies that areexpected to be a signiﬁcant source of reference, one in Brazil and the other inGermany.

special needs school and a transport operator in Japan, we carried out trial
commuter training for city buses and new public transport systems. The trial
was very well received by the school and transport operators who took part, andthey provided a number of useful suggestions which could be applied to full
implementation of the scheme. It also should be noted here that however goodthe bus operating system may be, commuting school students still need to walkto the bus stop. If the route to the bus stop is not safe the children will not beable to feel secure enough to get there and ride the bus. Our research in thisproject also addressed the issues presented by the route that children take to abus stop.
In September 2013 we compiled a pamphlet of our research results, with the aimof seeking broader support and understanding from society about this issue. InDecember 2013 we invited Ms. Hildegard Roosen, the originator of the MogLi
Project in Germany, to come to Tokyo to participate in a seminar. The seminarprovided a forum for vigorous and lively discussions and this booklet has been
compiled as a summary of the discussions that took place.
It can be expected that the publication of this booklet will increase opportunities
for people to give greater thought to commuting assistance for children withintellectual disabilities, and that practical and active consideration will be given
to such issues as reviewing school bus systems and providing commuter training
on city bus routes. It is our hope that such developments will ultimately ensure
the mobility of students with intellectual disabilities, so that they can participate
fully in society in the future.

Firstly, with regard to the first pattern of using a school bus for commuting,
we found a system known as SITES that is being run in the city of Curitiba in
Brazil and subsequently visited the city to observe the system in operation. With
regard to the second pattern of independent commuting by public transport, wefound that the MogLi Project, which was ﬁrst implemented on a trial basis in
the Germany city of Nordhorn and then put into full operation, could provide agood source of reference.
Using the MogLi Project as a source of reference, with the cooperation of a23methods there are two further patterns of commuting: 1) the school bus, and 2)
independent commuting by public transport. If either of these patterns could beadopted it would lessen the burden on parents and guardians, but both patterns
present various issues.
Firstly, with regard to 1) the school bus, it has been pointed out that as
school catchment areas are very wide, this leads to extended bus routes thatentail very long rides for students. On the other hand, with regard to 2)
independent commuting by public transport, there are concerns about such
issues as the different commuting environment for each student, difficulties
in teaching children how to commute by bus, issues about responding toemergency situations, and parents’ worries about letting their children commute
independently. With regard to pattern 1) although the issue of long journey
times has been raised, no further action has been witnessed, perhaps due to thefact that it is not considered urgent. With regard to pattern 2), although we haveseen a slight improvement in the situation by compiling handbooks, this has
regrettably not led to any positive eﬀorts to promote independent commuting.
It was decided to engage in research into cutting-edge case studies from overseas
about these commuting methods. First we surveyed countries that are generally
considered to be advanced in terms of welfare assistance and provision, however,contrary to expectations we could not ﬁnd any examples of speciﬁc activities. Byfurther expanding the breadth of our research we found two case studies that are
expected to be a signiﬁcant source of reference, one in Brazil and the other inGermany.

special needs school and a transport operator in Japan, we carried out trial
commuter training for city buses and new public transport systems. The trial
was very well received by the school and transport operators who took part, andthey provided a number of useful suggestions which could be applied to full
implementation of the scheme. It also should be noted here that however goodthe bus operating system may be, commuting school students still need to walkto the bus stop. If the route to the bus stop is not safe the children will not beable to feel secure enough to get there and ride the bus. Our research in thisproject also addressed the issues presented by the route that children take to abus stop.
In September 2013 we compiled a pamphlet of our research results, with the aimof seeking broader support and understanding from society about this issue. InDecember 2013 we invited Ms. Hildegard Roosen, the originator of the MogLi
Project in Germany, to come to Tokyo to participate in a seminar. The seminarprovided a forum for vigorous and lively discussions and this booklet has been
compiled as a summary of the discussions that took place.
It can be expected that the publication of this booklet will increase opportunities
for people to give greater thought to commuting assistance for children withintellectual disabilities, and that practical and active consideration will be given
to such issues as reviewing school bus systems and providing commuter training
on city bus routes. It is our hope that such developments will ultimately ensure
the mobility of students with intellectual disabilities, so that they can participate
fully in society in the future.

Firstly, with regard to the first pattern of using a school bus for commuting,
we found a system known as SITES that is being run in the city of Curitiba in
Brazil and subsequently visited the city to observe the system in operation. With
regard to the second pattern of independent commuting by public transport, wefound that the MogLi Project, which was ﬁrst implemented on a trial basis in
the Germany city of Nordhorn and then put into full operation, could provide agood source of reference.
Using the MogLi Project as a source of reference, with the cooperation of a23