Tokyo is different from most cities in developing countries because it has many, many suburban railway lines. These lines bring commuters to the Yamamote line, the circular line around the city centre, and to the city’s 12 subway lines.
Presenter: Rail travel seems to be the answer.
Masako: Yes, it is really. In addition there are expensive tolls on the city’s urban expressways, train travel is one and a half times faster than travel by car and city centre parking is very expensive.
Presenter: So Tokyoites don’t use cars that much...
Masako: Well you know, before you can buy a car in Tokyo you must prove that you have a place to park it, parking spaces can cost as much as apartments to rent. New roads are built in Tokyo but priority is given to new train lines.
Presenter: So the train is king in Tokyo, Sue, anything to add?
Sue: Tokyo is a good model for our future mega cities to aspire to, but, and this is a big but, Japan is a wealthy country and most of the rail system was present before Tokyo developed or was built as the city grew. Most of our new mega cities will be in Asia and Africa where the resources to develop a transport infrastructure similar to Tokyo’s just aren’t present.
Presenter: What can these cities do?
Sue: They must do all they can to stop the car from becoming the main means of transport.