Keiichi Satoh

Level of Snow Removal Service and Residents' Willingness to Pay: Evaluation for Four Japanese Cities

Residents were surveyed for their opinions on snow removal operations and the amount of money they would be willing to spend for snow removal service. From the results, basic policies are proposed for future snow removal operations in the four Japanese cities surveyed—Sapporo, Asahikawa, Kushiro, and Kitami, Japan. The results were analyzed by Kishi’s Logit PSM (KLP) to quantify the degree of snow removal desired by residents and the amount of money they would spend for this service. Residents rated maintenance of carriageway width and surface conditions on trunk roads fairly high and wanted significant improvements in snow removal on residential roads. Few residents wanted less snow removal service than they currently received. Most respondents wanted improvements. KLP analysis of the questionnaire results showed that Sapporo was the only city where the standard, acceptable cost to consumers was lower than its current snow removal cost. Many Sapporo respondents said that their current cost was unreasonably high, whereas many Asahikawa, Kushiro, and Kitami residents viewed their snow removal service as inexpensive.

Attitudinal Study on a Reciprocal Community Transport System in Japan

ABSTRACT In Japan, some mass transit companies were withdrawn from bus services in local municipalities after the deregulation in 2002. Elderly people who do not have a drivers license cannot help depending on transport services provided by family members or a municipality or on the remaining public transportation whose stations might be too far from their residences. To establish a new sustainable community transport, we propose a reciprocal community transport system that consists of volunteer ride-sharing transport services provided by residents who own private cars. Naganuma Town, Hokkaido, was applied as a case study, and a questionnaire survey was conducted. It was identified that there were enough potential transport service providers to cover the transport demand of potential service users. However, sufficient countermeasures against traffic accidents was found to be an issue to be overcome to secure the positive participation of residents in the transport system.

Planning historical evaluation of Sapporo Kanjo-dori ring road

As a policy which solves city traffic congestion, although maintenance of a ring road is promoted, construction is not progressing in almost all cities. Although under these circumstances Sapporo took the time for about 70 years, maintenance of the ring road which is not a highway was realized for the first time in Japan. The arc road plan in which the reason which Sapporo Kanjo-dori ring road completed was based on an ideal and reality was a factor.Moreover, there was thought of national defense, air defense, and fire prevention in the historical background of the plan.

Persistence Factors of Relay Station System in Hokkaido from the Viewpoint of Transportation in Winter

This study investigates the transition of conveyance means in Hokkaido, and the development process is clarified from the relation with the winter. We investigated transport function from the viewpoint of snow removing works. The railway brought about large effect in the physical distribution system in Hokkaido, because the transportation in the winter was possible for the railway from the Meiji era. There was called relay station system with Hokkaido original, and it persisted by 1947. It was a system necessary for the transportation by the horse. As the result, the following are clarified for the transport characteristics in the winter: Relay stations in Hokkaido were retained in the long term by necessity of the transportation by the horse and physical distribution function which relay stations had.

Research for Optimal Location of Multiechelon Distribution Center Based on Genetic Algorithm

This paper aims at solving optimization problems for locating distribution centers as a first step of investigation of social distribution problems, which are actually presented in some company. We construct a multiechelon model based on transportation costs for selecting its location optimally by considering goods in stock, labor costs spent at the centers, rent on the centers and charge for management. In future, we try to develop this model to a more general one suited to optimization problems of social hub such as central hub and local hub in a broad area and investigate a construction of optimal hub system as a social infra.

A Study on the Evaluation of Transportation Planning for a Fixed Guide-way System using Orthogonal Multi-attribute Utility Function

Current transportation conditions of greater Sapporos northern area were analyzed by mode. Using an orthogonal multi-attribute utility function based on user preference, we evaluated some typical plans for a new fixed guide-way system. Our analysis showed that access by bus is effective and indispensable measures as the terminal mode.

Education of Civil Engineering at Sapporo Agricultural College

abstract: Sapporo Agricultural College was one of the organs of higher education by the government office at early Meiji Era. In there, foreign professor instructed the young in Civil Engineering. After a while, the graduates took the place of the foreigner, and made the curriculum of Civil Engineering Education. It was one of the origin of system to teach civil engineering by Japanese. Isarni Hiroi was the chief of Dept. of Engineering S. A. C. and made its curriculum.In order to describe Civil Engineering Education of Dept. of Eng. S. A. C., this paper explains the lecture of Civil Engineering at S. A. C. that Hiroi was attended.