THE EIGHTH GLOBAL INTERACTIVE
FORUM ON TRAFFIC & SAFETY(GIFTS)Event

Moderator:	Fumihiko Nakamura
Panelists:	Dr. Peamsook Sanit
	Dr. Susanne Elfferding
	Ms. Yumi Vincent-Fujii

Prof. Nakamura introduced each of the panelists once again, and then invited them to give their presentations.

 

Prof. Nakamura thanked the panelists for their presentations, and proceeded to explain the program for the panel discussion. He then asked Dr. Sanit what she believes to be the future of songthaews in Thailand. He also asked her whether she believes “informal transportation” has a negative meaning, and if so, can it be turned into a positive.

 

Dr. Sanit responded that the current situation of using songthaews and similar transportation has decreased because of poor service. Informal transport may not be well organized and controlled by the government, but they have a positive impact because of the types of service people can call on. However, because of the poor organization, the price cannot be controlled, so now the number of passengers for informal transport is decreasing, particularly during COVID-19. Even in Bangkok, the number of passengers on metro transport is decreasing, so in order to make it more attractive, new technology such as big data and MaaS are required. Now private companies have begun thinking about on demand service using small vehicles, so songthaews have potential use there as shuttle buses.
Dr. Sanit also added that Thailand society is aging, much like Japan’s, so more people are facing limited mobility. Therefore, songthaew may be cheaper than metro transit. If the government gives more notice of informal transport and formalizes it, this would promote it to support metro transit systems as a mode of public transportation. Medium sized cities also do not have metro transit systems, so they rely on informal transport systems, so songthaews are very high potential vehicles that fit the demand of the people who want to travel in groups.
In the future, if the data can be utilized, and informal transport is formalized, it will create more organized and integrated inter city travel, so the situation of car usage in Thailand would improve. The next step would be promoting a pedestrian city.

 

Prof. Nakamura commented that insurance in informal transportation may not be covered, or taxes may not be paid, but songthaews have the potential to overcome those challenges. There is the benefit of using data to provide services and information, and bundling them together as MaaS, and the use of new technology can transform such transportation, and it would be helpful for those who do not have access to transportation as well.

 

He then commented on the subject of commuting to school in European countries, and in Japan. There are challenges of security issues from transporting using cars or vehicles, but this also causes too much congestion in schools, while at the same time walking to school reduces congestion but is not safe. He asked Dr. Elfferding, in the case of elementary school children, are there any innovative ideas to overcome the issue of alternatives to transporting children using cars.

 

Dr. Elfferding responded that, in the case of commuting to schools, there are several issues to consider. One of them is road traffic and increased automobile traffic as parents use cars to transport children. This could potentially cause accidents and dangers to children, but also the children do not learn the ability to find their own way home or to school, which is an important skill to help children learn independence.
There are many different ideas to resolve this point, such as focusing on the school and getting everyone to walk, or using posters to show how much all the students have walked or used bicycles and awarding classes of the students who walked the longest distances. This can also be communicated to parents through children, and the municipalities also put efforts into mobility education. In order words, one needs to think about their own mobility means and which one is better and has less impact on the environment. Schools can also consult with adults on why they are using automobiles and encourage non-automobile use. Traffic safety and volume and mobility choice need to be considered.

 

Prof. Nakamura highlight that in Japan, mobility management puts emphasis on traffic safety education for elementary and middle school education, but he noted the importance of how this education helps improve their independency.
He then asked Ms. Vincent-Fujii to clarify the meaning of the 15 minute city concept, and whether it refers to 15 minutes walking a day or 15 minute intervals between locations, as time management is an important concept for adults.

 

Ms. Vincent-Fujii explained that originally the 15 minute concept was developed in 2019, long before COVID-19, based on the 20-minutes neighborhood concept from Portland in the U.S. in 2016. Due to the 1km lockdowns during COVID-19, people could no longer go to schools and remote work increased. Thinking about the urban and living environments, governments considered whether local areas were attractive enough for residents.

 

People then started questioning the functions of the cities and towns around 2020 and 2021, and in France and other countries, people were talking about the fact that people prefer to work from home even after the pandemic. If time allocated for mobility is reallocated to something else, it would make people’s lives more fulfilling.
In answering the question of why it is becoming more of a reality in France, it is a question of timing. Because of the pandemic, people experienced lockdowns and people started to take a closer look at their living environments.

 

Prof. Nakamura then asked the panelists what they felt were the biggest changes in their respective countries after three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what did they learn.

 

Dr. Sanit answered first, stating that the pandemic has caused unexpected changes in daily lives, and required endeavors to adapt to new ways of living. The biggest changes in Thailand’s society revolve around food trips, with three peaks during the day where more people are on the roads to purchase food. For the younger generation in particular, when the met transit systems were implemented, there was less need to buy cars or houses, but the food trips were still essential. After COVID-19, lockdown measures limited mobility, so food delivery services became essential. In addition, because of new technology, younger people are spending more time during their lunch hours inside. There is also a bigger emphasis on cooking, so the lunchtime peak time has decreased.
She then explained that, even though infections have decreased, people want to continue to work from home, so the peak time of travel to work has also decreased. But the car usage has increased in Thailand, presenting a big challenge for train companies to think about how to make train transit more attractive. Some scholars have said that the impacts of COVID will last in the long-run, so some of these changes may be permanent. Thai people’s dependency on cars has increased, but there is hope that the younger generation will be affected by the use of metro transport.
She also added that public transportation may need to be revised. Some types of vehicles may need to be smaller, but the metro transit is also important, and shuttle buses and other services on demand may increase.

 

Prof. Nakamura agreed that some impacts may be long lasting, while others may recover soon, noting the similarities to the situation in Japan. He then asked Dr. Elfferding for her response.

 

Dr. Elfferding stated that the trend has been similar in Germany. In the beginning, people were afraid to meet others, and working from home increased as people were minimizing situations where they had to meet other people. Now the fear has subsided to some extent, and people are beginning to want to meet face to face in order to run business smoothly, but when asked if people want to commute every day, most people respond no. So most municipalities and companies in Germany are trying to ask their workers to come to the office twice a week, and other than that they can work from home.
In addition, the ways of shopping have changed. Of course daily food essentials are bought in the supermarkets, and people would go to supermarkets to buy the food. But there are items, such as clothing and shoes, that are now often bought through the internet. Therefore shopping malls are being impacted significantly, particularly in regional cities. Also, due to COVID-19, travelling was not possible, so concepts related to urban development changed to respond to this. These trends already existed but gained momentum during the pandemic. In the same way, traffic volume by cars has also been significantly reduced and use of bicycles has increased as a way to stay healthy, so city infrastructure is being improved to catch up to this increase.
Looking at public transport, Dr. Elfferding explained that people were afraid of getting in contact with people, so public transportation was not used. In some states, the amount of public transport has been significantly reduced or operations had to stop. However, some people use public transport to get to places they have to for work or other purposes, so lack of operations would be troublesome.
In the summer, the government wanted to introduce a rebate on petrol, because of increasing energy costs, but people protested and also wanted cheaper public transport. Therefore, a nationwide ticket for short distance trains costing 9 Euro per month was introduced for a short period of time. It has been very well received among citizens. She also noted the new short-distance 49 Euro monthly passes that may be introduced in spring for people to use public transport as much as possible, which will no doubt stimulate development within Germany.

 

Prof. Nakajima was particularly interested in the monthly transport passes. He noted that what was quite important is using the pressure from the public to reform public transportation, and utilizing different modes of transportation in order to overcome the current challenges. He then turned to Ms. Vincent-Fujii for her response.

 

Ms. Vincent-Fujii stated that there are two major changes caused by the COVID-19 impact. Firstly, on mobility, people have put strong interest in short-distance movement. As a results, efforts have been made to make the environment more walkable in order to get consensus from citizens. In regional cities, local governments are pursuing this, including converting roadways and parking lots into pedestrian only areas. In December 2019, the Mobility Basic Act was formulated, with a focus on “mobility for everyday and everybody.” In other words, it is mobility for citizens on a day to day basis. Through this act, the central government invested in the conversion projects being undertaken by local governments. This law reflects people’s ideas that grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic. She highlighted that the central government provided a large amount of financial support to local municipalities in order to improve regional transportation, such as roads dedicated to bicycles.
The second big change brought by the pandemic is digitalization of society, which progressed very fast. There are two unique aspects to digitalization in France. One is digitalization including transportation control management. MaaS utilization is now normal in local cities, including route finding, and people being able to calculate CO2 emissions associated with their route of travel. Municipal governments provide platforms for citizens to do this. The second digitalization is in the administrative sector, because of more people working from home wanting to receive government services without travelling. In light of this, smart city implementation was done in Dijon under 10 different themes, including integration of regional services. Citizens can now contact their local governments by phone or email and obtain information that they need immediately.

 

Prof. Nakamura noted that there are common elements and differing aspects depending on the country, and that there are many different pieces working together. He then asked the panelists what challenges need to be addressed to achieve mobility that creates value.

 

Dr. Sanit responded first, stating her theories on equity and justice. Because of new technologies, people do not worry about efficiency or environmental problems. Developing countries are more concerned about equities, because they are trying to create mobility for all. In the future, people will go beyond limitations in order to fit demand with supply. The next step should be how to make transportation available to everyone, not only with affordable prices, but meaning all people in society can access any mode of transportation. She emphasized that equity is important for the next step of mobility.

 

Prof. Nakamura agreed with this view. Considerations should be given to particular groups of people so that everyone is able to enjoy transport.

 

Dr. Elfferding also voiced her agreement with this statement. In Germany, cities have been optimized for vehicles, and this needs to be modified. So the subject becomes how cities need to be changed in order to ensure everyone’s participation, opportunities, and autonomous living. If cities are changed drastically and modes of transportation are changed, then there will be people who are dissatisfied with the new inconvenience. When thinking about transportation or change, there needs to be good supportive communication for everyone.

 

Prof. Nakamura supported the concept of autonomous living, and with explaining processes for change. He stated his personal belief that new technologies could be utilized to enable that, but there are still a lot of challenges.

 

Ms. Vincent-Fujii first concluded that mobility linked with mobility, and redistribution of space to shared public spaces, will be key. In regional cities in France, public transportation is quite good and extensive, but 80% of passenger transport is still done by automobiles There needs to be a co-existence with automobiles, and there needs to be convenience for those users as well. One such method is the transition towards electric vehicles (EVs). The second is that urban society development should focus on calm transport cities, such as adding the 15 minute walk structure. Automobiles can be used outside the center of the city, but people will still be active in the center of the city. This is also good for environmental presentation, and also health promotion for everyone. Ultimately, how to share public space in a good way is a very important task.

 

Prof. Nakamura thanked the panelists for their comments and concluded the panel discussion.

 

Prof. Nakamura then proceeded to take questions from the audience.

 

The first question asked Ms. Vincent-Fujii what is the difference between the 15 minute city vs the Japanese compact city initiatives.

 

Ms. Vincent-Fujii responded that a compact city initiative is meant to prevent a city from expanding, and is based on public transport lines. That has also been done before in France. However, the 15 minute city concept is quite different, because it is not meant to suppress the expansion of cities, but rather make city facilities more convenient for users. She noted the examples of initiatives made within Paris to reduce automobile entry into city centers to improve safety, and how some facilities that are not used on the weekends are used by the community instead, meaning that citizens do not have to travel far to engage in activities.

 

The second question asked Dr. Elfferding for comments on the fact that transforming a city is a challenge but Japan also faces a declining population, so making a city more compact would cost a lot of money and impact public services to Japan.

 

Dr. Elfferding answered that some regions in Germany also face the problem of population loss due to job opportunities in large cities. People with high levels of education tend to want to live in large cities. In order to respond to this problem, regional cities could utilize tourism more, or leverage the uniqueness of that local area. Another issue is that conventional teaching of urban planning to students may not have been sufficient, as it was based on the assumption the economy will continue to grow over time. But going forward the focus has to shift. In other words, city planning has to focus on how to make the cities smaller and more compact. On top of that, the situation changed because of the pandemic. More people are returning to the rural areas, because now people can work in the city twice a week and spend the remaining days in the countryside. She stated that this is a new opportunity for the regions.

 

The third question asked Dr. Sanit that Thailand now accepts smart cities, but Thailand has not had any conversations about informal transport, so who manages these concepts.

 

Dr. Sanit responded that the big problem for transport management in Thailand is that there are many transportation organizations that take responsibility for urban transportation systems. However, there is no organization that takes responsibility for informal transportation. In informal transportation, the vehicle owner provides the service and gets permission from the government. The solution is that the central government has to decentralize the transportation authority to the local governments, so that they can take responsibility for all modes of transportation and operate them themselves.

 

The fourth question asked, thinking about how consensus and decision making is needed in order to create value, leaders will be very important and financing will be required for the different initiatives, so what does Japan need to understand in terms of leadership in creating value for transportation in Japan.

 

Dr. Elfferding responded, stating whenever a new administration comes in, things change depending on the region. Therefore leadership matters, but it is not the only thing that matters. Awareness of the general public needs to be nurtured at the same time in parallel. Within Germany, the general atmosphere is that the changes in leadership, with younger people working in the government, will make a big difference.

 

The fifth question asked how important is the role of local city councils in implementing public transport solutions, and how can this role be enhanced.

 

Ms. Vincent-Fujii responded that, in France, traffic policies are formulated in the law as the traffic master plan. What is often said is to make the city for everyone, and that has gained strength from the citizens and the leadership as well. One of the challenges is to create value, and the two important values in French society is environmental conservation and making cities and towns that are easy to live in for the next generation. She also noted the high rate of tax in France provides resources and revenues to local governments, so they can provide cheaper public transport and make it easy to use pedestrian walkways. That is the mission of the social aspect in society. This redistribution of money allows for development of public facilities such as parks that can be enjoyed by everyone. Administrations in France are also highly diverse, so there is a wide range of people involved in traffic policy making, meaning they address different needs. This shows how important people’s interest in politics can have on urban development.

 

Prof. Nakamura noted that in each country, the relationship between the central government and local government, and people and leadership, is pronounced in regional cities, and people have a strong sense of responsibility.

 

The sixth question asked that, while businessmen want individual ownership of transportation, the sustainability angle would prefer public transport and spaces, so which model should the government focus on in the present and the future.

 

Prof. Nakamura responded that the answer is that focus should be on public transportation.

 

The seventh question asked Dr. Elfferding in what ways or aspects safe journeys to and from school programs for students and others can be integrated in her line of research.

 

Dr. Elfferding answered that, in terms of safety for the students, the town itself and how people think, what is often discussed in Germany is how nothing will change if automobiles continue to be used in the same way. Even though there is a shift to EV usage, if the volume is not reduced, then necessary spaces for commuting to school cannot be provided, so how to change cities and towns requires expanding the diversity for the modes of transport. In addition, needs are different, so public transport, walking, etc., are all necessary. With that understanding, and to be understood by society, communication is very important. The city has to explain what is being done to its citizens. Transport education going forward is not just about traffic safety and responding to traffic, it is about what kind of city do people want to live in. To focus of discussions needs to be shifted.

 

The last question asked for good examples of private players involved.

 

Prof. Nakamura answered by listing the transport federation in Germany, and similar examples seen in Bogota and Seoul. There are many papers available, but Prof. Nakamura promised to respond separately. He added that education in the past was more about how people align themselves to transport, but that mindset needs to change, and people need to think about what kind of city or environment they want to live in, and what should transport do to support that. Including the results of the meeting today, IATSS will continue to deliver this message, based on the comments given by the panelists. He then thanked the panelists for their participation and concluded the Q&A session.