Quote:
Originally Posted by lolerle
Thank you very much  )
Now I understand the different private companies of Tokyo.
There came up another small question. How strong is the government involved into these private companies?
How is the public transport coordinated, is there a special organisation or the government? or is it done by the several private companies?
and I'm also not clear about the money. The government does not finance the private companies? not even JR?
I'm sorry for my lots of questions, but I really need to get forward in this work I'm doing here.. |
The subways and railways are privately owned and funded, for the most part. The government of Japan still owns a minority share of JR, and most of the JR lines were built back when JR was government-run. Unfortunately, the government administration of JR was not very efficient, and JR was a money-losing operation until it was eventually privatized. JR is much similar to JT (Japan Tobacco), which was also formerly a government run company.
Upon privatization, the new owners of JR closed some of the lines in more rural areas, reduced some staff, and upgraded the busier lines and stations. Many people in the countryside complained about losing their train stations, and this has made them more dependent on cars. Recently there has been talk of raising the inspection and registration charges for Kei cars (subcompact cars popular in the rural areas), but this likely won't happen because of the lack of public transportation in the countryside.
The main role of government now is to provide safety inspections and set licensing requirements.