Urban Public Transit Planning Strategy in the Era of Decreasing Transport Demand

It is obvious that public transportation's designated role is changing, and it is becoming a more important part of the society. Consideration of the measures being taken to address global environmental issues and the need to provide transportation services for the physically and/or mentally challenged in response to societal aging, as well as other aspects, make it clear that public transportation must not only be able to efficiently handle large volumes of traffic, but also function as an environmentally-friendly means of transportation responsive to user needs. Through the development and management of subway and municipal bus systems, the City of Osaka has done its best to create a metropolitan public transportation system. This paper describes the history of the railways and the current state and trends in railway transportation in the city; and possible changes in the future and the ideal subway development.