They look like two box cars connected like an accordian. Articulated buses, which are nearly twice the length of a common city bus, have been running on the streets of Machida, Tokyo, as public transport since 2012.
But nowhere else in metropolitan Tokyo are such buses in use. Why only there, and how did they get started in the first place?
"I ride the bus everyday for commuting," Takahiro Sato, a 45-year-old company employee, said before boarding an articulated bus at the Yamazaki Danchi Center bus stop, the start of the route headed to the nearest train station, on a late July morning. "It's a very comfortable ride, and I'm grateful for it."
Sato resides in a nearby housing complex, the Machida Yamazaki Danchi. He gets off at the Machida Bus Center bus stop, which serves Machida Station on both the JR and Odakyu Electric Railway Co. lines, and takes a JR Yokohama Line train to his workplace.
The articulated bus, dubbed the "Twin Liner," operates on a 4.6-kilometer route between the two stops. The buses depart from Yamazaki Danchi Center 21 times and from Machida Bus Center 24 times on weekdays, with most runs concentrated in the morning and evening. The bus is about 18 meters long and has a capacity for 129 passengers. Compared with the common city bus, it is 1.8 times longer and can carry 1.7 times more passengers.
Easing traffic congestion
Machida developed as a bedroom suburb of central Tokyo. During the postwar period of rapid economic growth, a cluster of large-scale housing projects called danchi sprung up one after another. The Machida Yamazaki Danchi, opened in the late 1960s, accommodates about 4,200 households.
Residents commuting to workplaces or schools in central Tokyo or elsewhere flood into Machida Station, causing heavy traffic congestion during the morning and evening rush hours. Buses serving as the main method of transport to the station found it near impossible to run on time. To find a solution through mass transportation, the articulated bus was adopted in a joint project between the city government and Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu Co.
The buses began operating in May 2012. Before that, necessary measures were taken in consultation with and through the cooperation of the Metropolitan Police Department, such as resetting stop lines at intersections to give the bus enough room to make smooth turns.
The articulated buses were manufactured by Mercedes-Benz, and there are currently four in service. To prevent blind spots for the driver, the bus is equipped with cameras on both sides and in the rear.
Because the cars are connected with an awning, it is classified as a single vehicle, and thus a towing license is not necessary. Drivers need just a Class-2 large motor vehicle license. Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu, seeing the buses an element of its corporate image, selects only its top drivers to handle the buses.
"More passengers say 'thank you' to me than when I drove an ordinary bus." said Yoichi Yamazaki, 60, a driver based in the company's Machida office. "It makes me happy, and I feel it is rewarding."
According to the city and relevant entities, the number of daily round trips between the Yamazaki Danchi Center and the Machida Bus Center has decreased 23 percent, from 535 to 410, since the introduction of the articulated buses. In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, that equates to an annual reduction of about 23 tons.
In February 2016, a special route was added on match days for the J.League second-division's FC Machida Zelvia, directly connecting the Machida Bus Center and the bus stop at the Machida Municipal Athletic Stadium.
Takeshi Kamikawabata, a 42-year-old company employee who used the bus to get to a home game on July 21, said with a smile: "It's so convenient that it can hold so many people. As we were all soccer fans, I felt a real bond."
More operations expected
In addition to their use in mass transportation, the articulated buses can have the added effect of dealing with the problem of a driver shortage.
According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, such buses have so far been introduced in only 11 regions, including the cities of Chiba, Gifu, Niigata and Fukuoka as well as Machida.
In May, the first domestic model jointly developed by Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Hino Motors Ltd. went on the market, at a pre-tax cost of 88 million yen. That could potentially provide a push for future demand.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
