Transport in Greater Tokyo

Transport in Greater Tokyo
Map of Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway rail lines in Tokyo
Map of Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway rail lines in Tokyo
Overview
OwnerTokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, Kanagawa Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, other municipal governments
Locale Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area
Transit typeRapid transit, commuter rail, bus and bus rapid transit, light rail, people mover, aerial tramway, bicycle sharing system, taxicab
Operation
Operator(s)Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Keikyu Corporation, Odakyu Electric Railway, Keisei Electric Railway, JR East, Seibu Railway, Tobu Railway, Tokyu Railway, Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, Sagami Railway
Technical
Track gauge1,067 mm (most common)
Tokyo streets at night

The transport network in Greater Tokyo includes public and private rail and highway networks; airports for international, domestic, and general aviation; buses; motorcycle delivery services, walking, bicycling, and commercial shipping. While the nexus is in the central part of Tokyo, every part of the Greater Tokyo Area has rail or road transport services. There are also a number of ports offering sea and air transport to the general public.

Public transport within Greater Tokyo is dominated by the world's most extensive urban rail network (as of May 2014, the article Tokyo rail list lists 158 lines, 48 operators, 4,714.5 km of operational track and 2,210 stations [although stations are recounted for each operator]) of suburban trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, trams, monorails, and other modes supporting the railway lines. The above figures do not include any Shinkansen services. However, because each operator manages only its own network, the system is managed as a collection of rail networks rather than a single unit. 40 million passengers (counted twice if transferring between operators) use the rail system daily (14.6 billion annually) with the subway representing 22% of that figure with 8.66 million using it daily.[1] There are 0.24 commuter rail stations per square kilometer (0.61/sq mi) in the Tokyo area, or one for each 4.1 square kilometers (1.6 sq mi) of developed land area. Commuter rail ridership is very dense, at 6 million people per line mile annually, with the highest among automotive urban areas.[clarification needed][2] Walking and cycling are much more common than in many cities around the globe. Private automobiles and motorcycles play a secondary role in urban transport.

  1. ^ "平成成 1177 年 - 大都市交通センサス - 第第 1100 回" [1177th year of Heisei - 1100th Metropolitan Transportation Census] (PDF). www.mlit.go.jp (in Japanese).
  2. ^ "Urban Transport Factbook, Tokyo-Yokohama Suburban Rail Summary" (PDF). publicpurpose.com.