## (Ensuring comfortable and convenient traveling from one place to another)

In order to push forward comprehensive and strategic traffic measures in urban and rural areas together with town development, the ministry pushes forward the improvement and development of LRT and environments where bus services exist, improvement of traffic nodes, and well-planned improvement of bicycle paths. In addition, the ministry facilitates the elimination of traffic jams and railway crossing accidents associated with what are termed “railway crossings that are almost always closed.”

## (Pushing forward the autonomous development of extensive areas)

In order to create a national territory where various extensive areas can autonomously develop into spaces beautiful and convenient for living, the ministry pushes forward the embodiment of extensive regional planning through the use of comprehensive support systems for regional self-reliance and invigoration. At the same time, the ministry promotes support for the formulation of living areas where people can live independently while being able to satisfy their daily needs without traveling far, the ensuring of functions necessary for daily life through support to measures concerning the new public-sector, and the construction of communities.

## (b) Improving convenience in people’s daily life

## (Constructing relaxed urban traffic)

To realize comfortable and relaxed urban life, the ministry pushes forward the improvement of connecting lines' capacity to deliver passengers to their destinations swiftly, through the effective use of existing urban railway routes; the sophistication of traffic node functions through the improvement of railway stations together with their surrounding areas; and the improvement of urban railway routes, including subway lines. The ministry also promotes off-peak commuting.

## (Innovation through the use of ICT)

The ministry pushes forward the improvement of environments so as to facilitate the use of ICT (including the formulation of geospatial information infrastructures, the international use of IC-based tickets, and the promotion of ITS) and ICT-related innovation, to ensure high productivity, even in the face of a declining population, through the best use of ICT.

## (4) Enhancing various life-styles

As people’s views of life and lifestyles become more diverse, so do their. People’s needs in daily life will also vary according to the stage in life and their milestone experiences, including employment, marriage, child-raising and retirement. In order to satisfy these diversified needs, the ministry facilitates support for those who are to secure or renovate housing, the support for those who are willing to live in two regions at the same time or to make “UJI turns” (move back to their rural hometown or other rural areas after living in a city), and the realization of a good balance between work and private life.

## (Housing best suited to each life stage)

Through mortgage tax breaks, tax breaks associated with barrier-free renovation, and a system to support high-grade home acquisition, the ministry supports people to secure and renovate housing at reasonable prices and improves their living standards in accordance with their life stages.

Furthermore, to promote the shift into a stock-based society, the ministry works to increase the life of housing. The ministry also promotes the housing performance indication system and the improvement and the popularization of housing history information to improve the housing market environment, so that existing homes will be more properly evaluated in the market and effectively used for a longer period of time.