Opinions and Responses

About I Bus

I attended the opinion hearing session for the Hirao district on September 19, but I felt that the city's efforts were heading in a different direction from ours.
I Bus should not be considered a supplement to the Odakyu route buses. Odakyu route buses mainly serve "commuting" and "school commuting," while I Bus should be regarded as transportation for citizens to "hospitals," "City Hall," and "city facilities including libraries."
Isn't it necessary to discuss the division of operations with Odakyu Bus?

Response

So far, regarding the "i-Bus Review," two revisions have been conducted by the "Inagi City Regional Public Transportation Council," a regional public transportation council stipulated by the Road Transport Act, composed of representatives from each Neighborhood Association and each citizen group, bus business operators, police, and others, who discuss matters necessary to realize transportation services tailored to the local circumstances.
Currently, the "Inagi City Regional Public Transportation Council" is discussing the third review. Regarding the opinions received about the route buses operated by Odakyu Bus and the i-Bus routes, the current situation of Odakyu Bus's bus business includes a "serious shortage of drivers for shared bus operators" and the need to comply with the revised "Improvement Standards Notification." Considering the future number of drivers, it is not possible to maintain the current scale of i-Bus route operations (five routes with seven buses running daily). Therefore, Odakyu Bus has proposed reducing the number of i-Bus vehicles in operation, including the possibility of withdrawing from the service.
Therefore, the city, taking into account citizen needs and other factors, has established and examined the "Inagi City Community Bus Phase III Review Policy," consisting of nine policies such as "Review of long routes on the current i-Bus A and B courses," "Review of overlapping routes with regular buses," and "Consideration of routes that allow travel to distant areas by transferring to regular buses," at the Inagi City Regional Public Transportation Council. This resulted in the determination of a draft route map.
Also, one of the nine revision policies includes the reduction in the number of i-Buses and the downsizing of i-Bus routes associated with this draft route map. This is expected to lead to securing drivers for Odakyu Bus, among other benefits. Based on this, a policy has been established to request the expansion of city bus routes within the city, specifically the "Request for extension and increased frequency of existing bus routes." Moving forward, we will seek increased service on routes such as from Hirao Housing Complex to Inagi City Hospital.

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