People in Kyoto are unhappy because taxpayers cannot board municipal buses, and their daily lives are being disrupted.

So, why don't they take advantage of the situation and add more buses? They could have some Okinawan buses. Nobody is using them here.

Blame that to JGovt that want more tourist to come to Japan.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/02/f9f34e464698-japan-aiming-for-record-number-of-foreign-visitors-in-2025.html

Even before the tourism boom, Kyoto's bus transport was awful. Weekend crowding was insufferable on board those vehicles. So many of the bus stops are nothing but a metal pole in the ground where big crowds of people have to stand along the sidewalk, blocking pedestrian flows. This was 10 years ago. They had a chance to fix these problems but chose not to.

Kyoto could of course just run more buses without asking the Transport Ministry anything.

The vast majority of bus problems in Japan is low ridership and buses losing money. It happens on almost all bus routes in inaka.

If buses are crowded, they must be full of people paying, so the issue is then to find more drivers and operate more services. Raise the hotel tax if the cost of running extra buses involves extra costs.

I remember during the pandemic when the Kyoto residents were lamenting the lack of tourists and how many were saying that they didn't realize how small Kyoto really was until the tourists stopped coming. Now this?

Run more buses, with higher capacity. Find drivers who go faster than driving miss daisy.

Used to visit Kyoto a lot. Thank god I got it all done in the old days, even before the Chinese boom. Don't want to go anywhere near that place now. My memories are enough.

When we lived in Kobe, for 16 years we visited Kyoto more than 20 times. Sometimes to see an art exhibition. 20 years ago the buses were packed so nothing new. Our visiting days are over.

Yeah, Kyoto always had a crappy, overloaded infrastructure, including transport, from when I lived there in the 80s. It's certainly not designed for tourist hordes as well. But they want the money because Kyoto is in such huge debt.

People in Kyoto are unhappy because taxpayers cannot board municipal buses, and their daily lives are being disrupted.

This has been the issue, well before the current tourist boom and corona. Nothing significant has changed in at least the last 25 years, as far as public transportation goes.

Until they step up and start making plans, it will probably the same for the next 25 years.

Funny they were upset when no tourists were going during COVID, they need to make up their minds!

Do they want money and business or no money and bankruptcy?

Do they want money and business or no money and bankruptcy?

I am going out on a limb and say that there's a middle ground somewhere between being overrun with tourists and none at all, and that's what they want.

Higher fares to ease overcrowding. Uh huh. What are they going to do? Triple it for tourists to scare them away? Just who is a tourist anyway and what if most tourists don't even see a problem with it? The problem won't be solved. The world extremely weak yen is partly to blame. Also, if some of us who've been here for decades and are permanent residents have family or friends come to visit and decide to take a jaunt down to Kyoto, do we pay separate fares or are we all grouped together? Glad I did the Kyoto thing decades ago.

Double-decker buses would help. Tourists bus from Kyoto JR directly to tourist spots.

They didn't seem too happy when they were on the verge of bankruptcy up until the tourists increased again, either. Can't have it both ways, people. Kyoto can always add more buses.

I go to Kyoto regularly for business.

Interesting I have never had any problems with over crowded buses but then I live in Tokyo and trains and buses are way more crowded than Kyoto.

Could it be that Kyoto residents are just whiners?

There are already private tourist buses almost exactly the same routes and system the city is suggesting at the same ¥1500 and they are barely full because no one is that stupid to pay ¥1,500 to get to the same place that would cost less than ¥500 on regular public transportation.

Now to remind people why this:

Kyoto Mayor Koji Matsui who has asked the transport ministry to help enable the city to set higher fares for tourists

Because the plan isn't to just charge foreigners but Japanese tourists also because they still make up the vast majority of tourists.

Under the law (and the constitution according to some experts) it is illegal to charge more to some citizens than others.

Just charging foreigners won't help because they are not the real problem!

I know the constant focus is on Chinese tourists, but go to Kyoto and see for yourselves.

One giant tourists bus after another lining the streets and parking lots, full of Chinese tourists, they are not the ones taking public transportation.

Daily public transport users already get lower fares via their Teikis. Don’t see how charging even higher fares for tourists will ease overcrowding. And let’s not forget, tourists are taxpayers too. I think Mr Matsui is deflecting the discussion away from under investment in the busses.

80% of Kyoto tourists are domestic Japanese.

Cough cough, we wanna ride the greed bandwagon, cough!

That ain't about discouraging tourists from riding the buses. After all, they all have got way more money than Taro and Megumi.

Yeah, Kyoto always had a crappy, overloaded infrastructure, including transport, from when I lived there in the 80s. It's certainly not designed for tourist hordes as well. But they want the money because Kyoto is in such huge debt.-5( +3 / -8 )

Yeah, like 8 people know what Kyoto was like nearly 40 years ago. Some won't know even now. Some never leave their rooms.

Instead of Kyoto city spending a fortune upgrading the city office, it could introduce a free bus service to residents and only residents.

Some many problems in Japan just fester like an infected boil due to paltry imaginations.

I thought they were discussing about adding more busses for the tourists routes only, therefore freeing some routes used by daily comuters. This is the best idea so far.