Keep it for our School Commute! Supported by the Student Councils of High Schools along the Railway

Line ~Kashitetsu Bustitution (Substitute Buses)

There is an example of high school students who use substitute buses getting involved in activities to support the continuation and revitalization of buses that are running as substitute for railway lines that were closed. In Ibaraki, by the end of March 2007, the number of users of the ‘Kashitetsu Substitute Buses’ —which had started running after the closing of the Kashima Railway—had dropped to a fourth of the number of people who used to ride the railway, due to the fact that many people who had previously used the railway for commuting had switched to commuting by a private car. Realizing that if this trend keeps up, they would lose their public transportation means for commuting to school, the student councils from the high schools along the railway line set up the ‘Kashitetsu (Kashima Railway) Bustitution (Substitute Buses) Supporting Group’ $ ^{58} $ . The group took over the activities from the ‘Kashitets (Kashima Railway) Supporting Group,’ which had been founded to support the continuation of the Kashima Railway, and hold regular ‘Kashitetsu Substitute Buses Supporting Group Meetings’ where they exchange ideas about how to support the continuation and revitalization of the substitute buses.

The Kashitetsu Substitute Buses Supporting Group is very proactive in its endeavors, which include clean up work around bus stops, and various activities to tell as many citizens as possible about substitute bus services. Such activities include the creation of a group mascot character, ‘Kashitetsu Bus-kun (Kashitetsu Bus Boy)’ who

Figure 2-2-38

Kashitetsu Bus-kun

Source) Kashima Railway Substitute Buses Cheering Group

Figure 2-2-39

Bus Service by BRT

Source) Ishioka City website

appears on things like tissue packets handed out to passers to encourage other students and regular citizens to use the substitute buses, and asking kindergartens and elementary schools along the railway line to submit paintings to be exhibited on the gallery bus. In addition, the group also participates in the Regions along Katshitestu Railway Line's Public Transportation Strategy Meetings as a representative of the service users.

Currently the Kashitetsu Substitute Buses system is operating as the ‘Kashitetsu Bus’ service, running on BRT $ ^{Note 59} $ , which utilizes the track that had been laid for the discontinued Kashima Railway Line. In addition to the above activities, the Kashitetsu Substitute Buses Supporting Group is also involved in other efforts for promoting the use of Kashitetsu Buses, such as creating coloring books of ‘Kashitetsu Bus Boy’ and collecting donations at regional events, planning the ‘Kashitetsu Bus Boxed Lunches $ ^{Note 60} $ ’ project, creating the ‘Let’s Go by Kashitetsu Bus! A Foodie’s Map $ ^{Note 61} $ , and selling ‘Kashitetsu Bus Boy Candy’ at local cultural festivals.

## ☑ Public Bus Fostered by Residents, Reassess as They Go ~Uozu City, Toyama Uozu Public Bus~

Following the closure of the private bus lines due to the decline in the number of users, in FY2001, Uozu City, Toyama conducted an experiment of running a public bus service, ‘Every Other Day Service—Mon, Wed, Fri—Bus Fare JPY100,’ in an effort to revitalize the city center’s shopping district. However, in the beginning the results of the experiment were not very positive. Therefore, with the goal to protect the transportation means of vulnerable road users, as part of their